Broken Toys Make No Noise
by crystal-gem-jessie
Summary: Sequel to "Johnny and Dora's Fantastic Weekend Getaway" Three months have passed since Amy put her heart on the line, three months since Jake asked for a new partner, Three months since they last looked each other in the eyes. But the 99 needs its best crime-fighting duo back because a new killer has hit the streets of Brooklyn. [COMPLETE]
1. Jewelry Box Ballerina - Amy

**AN:** Hey everyone! Welcome to "Broken Toys Make No Noise". This is the sequel to "Johnny and Dora's Fantastic Weekend Getaway" so definitely read that first!

This fic will be pretty dark and I'm putting trigger warnings for Gore, Blood, and Death. Deaths described are crime scenes, so please read-on with caution. If at any point you feel I need to label my trigger warnings something different, PLEASE let me know. I don't want anyone to have an anxiety attack because of poor labeling. With that said, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Jewelry Box Ballerina – Amy**

Amy shivered as a cold breeze hit her elbow and danced its way up to the nape of her neck. The gentle, invading gust prompted her to sit up from her five-wheeled chair (that was actually a dogged four-wheel chair) and close the open window near her desk in the 99th precinct office she worked in. She had opened it earlier because the room had "suddenly gotten stuffy" when her former partner stepped off the elevator and entered the office.

Jake always made sure to look straight ahead as he passed her desk and Amy, wanting to avoid the needling feeling in her chest that usually accompanied these instances, decided the room needed some air. That way, Jake didn't have to pretend her desk was unoccupied.

It was all a charade, of course. Whenever Jake passed her, Amy felt her muscles tense and Amy knew by the muscle that flexed in his jaw that he was acutely aware of her as well. Their new relationship was like a pair of Chinese handcuffs: the harder they tried to pull away, the further they were from freedom.

What could they do? Talk about it? No. No, they _had_ talked about it. Three months ago. After the Tufton case was over, Jake made it crystal clear they needed to stay away from each other. Amy shook her head, trying to rid the memories that could pull sutures out of her not-yet healed wound. Amy _was_ healing though. Work caused her the odd sting in her chest, but it was manageable. A "talk" could reverse that. What would she even say?

" _Hey Jake, when you try to act like I don't exist, it makes it really hard for me to act like_ you _don't exist_ " she thought, and scoffed at herself. That was sure to go well. No, there was nothing to be done. She had to wait it out and then, after a while, she'd stop feeling close to Jake. Eventually, he'd feel like a distant acquaintance and then, she wouldn't feel anything. He wouldn't mean anything to her. The thought of that earned her chest another ache. She hated the idea of not even being friends, but that's what had to happen.

Before shutting the window, Amy took a deep breath of the crisp, Autumn New York air. She breathed into the pain and let it go. She sat back at her desk with a renewed energy and a determination to think of other things.

She was about to sink her teeth into a particularly long case report when a booming voice commanded her attention.

"Peralta. Santiago. My office, please" Captain Holt announced at the door of his office. He ducked back inside and an awkward tension filled the precinct. Amy knew the precinct was aware of the changed relationship between her and Jake, but whenever someone asked her about it, she was less than cooperative.

* * *

 _"Amy, Jakey's not acting with his usual masculine optimism lately and he hasn't made fun of you in_ three days _. The last time he did that it was because he got his wisdom teeth out and all the swelling made it impossible for him to say anything at all. Do you know what's going on?" Boyle asked her a few days after Amy confessed to Jake. The heart break was a little too fresh and Amy came up with an instant diversion. She looked down at her phone as if she had gotten a text. She had a couple of emergency excuses on hand, but panic made her jumble them up._

 _"Oh, no! My baby's brother is having a house fire! I mean, My house fire is_ having _a baby brother! NO! I mean my baby is on fire at my brother's house!" she yelled, her eyes wide with panic. Boyle looked both alarmed and concerned._

 _"I gotta go!" she said and ran out of the precinct._

* * *

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only incident.

* * *

 _"Santiago, why are you and Jake avoiding each other? Is something up?" Terry asked her one day when Jake was out of the office chasing a lead. Amy, once again panicked, and threw her iPhone on the ground with such ferocity that the screen shattered spectacularly._

 _"Oh no! I dropped my phone! Well, I better go replace it. Bye Ter-Bear, you old loon you hahahah" she said as she ran out of the room with her newly broken phone. Terry stared on in stunned silence._

* * *

Even more unfortunately, that wasn't the last incident.

* * *

 _"Yo. Santiago. You and Peralta are being weird. Why?" Rosa asked and panic filled Amy once again. This time, she didn't bother trying to be clever or smooth. She just ran for a window and ran down the fire exit._

* * *

After that, the precinct learned it was better (and safer) to simply not ask. It didn't make them forget though and now, all eyes were flicking between her and Jake.

For the first time in three months, Jake and Amy looked at each other, both with expressions of surprised curiosity. It was both painful and nice to look at his brown eyes. It was short-live though, because her legs pulled her to her captain's office. She felt Jake follow her and she took a sharp inhale of breath. Whatever this was, it couldn't be good.

She entered the familiar office, her mentor sitting behind his desk, and felt her body give in to slight shaking. Why was she so nervous? There was no reason to be so nervous.

"Peralta, shut the door, please, and then take a seat" Holt said, gesturing with his glasses in-hand. Jake and Amy sat down next to each other and a heat wave went up her spine. She was so close to him, closer than they had been in three months. She could feel Jake trying to ignore her again, trying to act like the seat next to him was empty. The realization pricked another needle in her chest.

Holt examined the both of them in silence which made the hairs on Amy's neck prickle. He sighed and folded his hands on his desk.

"The precinct's numbers are down" He said with his usual lack of emotion, but Amy swore she heard a hint of disappointment in his words.

"Sir?" she asked.

"To be precise, _your_ numbers are down. Both of you. The rest of my detectives have kept consistent numbers, and yet over the past three months you two have had a steady decline in arrests. Can one of you explain that to me?" Holt asked.

"Yeah, Hitchcock is hell to work with" Jake said, resentment on his tongue.

"That goes double for Scully, sir" Amy said, a tinge of guilt hitting her as she bad-mouthed her current partner, but it was true. Scully was slow and slow-witted. He was a crutch on and off the field. It was one of the worst parts about not being Jake's partner any more. Amy's frustration with Scully was nothing compared to the frustration Jake felt. If there was anything Jake hated, it was something hurting his numbers. Amy had known for a while that her arrests were down and she was surprised that this conversation hadn't happened earlier.

"I changed your partners because for some unforeseeable reason my best team requested a partner transfer and now, my two best detectives are dragging the rest of the precinct down" Holt said, and Amy was sure that he was angry.

"I'm sorry, sir" Amy said, guilt and shame filling her.

"I had hoped that you two could help Hitchcock and Scully become more efficient detectives, but I seemed to have been mistaken. As of today, I'm reversing the partner transfer"

"What?!" Jake asked.

"Do you have a complaint with my order, Peralta?" Holt asked.

"Sir, there's a very good reason-" Jake started.

"I don't care about your reasons, Peralta. I care about Wuntch and how she's already talked to the commissioner about the precinct's abysmal performance. We got some leeway because of the success of the Tufton case, but I'm running out of excuses. I'm putting you two back together because you get results, and any personal issues you have with each other should be resolved professionally. Is that clear, detectives?" he asked.

"Yes, sir" they both said.

"Good. Now, the precinct has recently acquired a very high profile case. The state wants us to keep it hushed so as not to alarm the public, but it seems we have a serial killer in Brooklyn and if the particulars get out, it'll be all over national news. That is the opposite of what we want. This perp would thrive on the attention and we'd get a killing a day"

"Ooh, intrigue. Tell me more!" Jake said, excited. The shock of being partnered back with Amy had melted away as soon as Holt had said "serial killer". Holt grabbed a large case file off his desk and handed it Jake.

"They're calling him the 'Toy Box Killer'. He poses his victims as popular children's toys, going so far as making elaborate costumes and painting them with as much accuracy as he can. The first victim was a twenty-eight-year-old male: Preston Vice. He was posed as a G.I. Joe doll. The killer even decorated the warehouse the victim was found in as a battlefield, sparing no detail. That was a month ago. I got a call thirty minutes ago that another victim had been found in our district, this time it was a female fashioned as a ballerina in a music box. Forensics is already at the scene. I want you two to investigate immediately. This is a dangerous criminal and I want him off the streets before we find another victim" Holt finished, his tone consistent.

Amy had to suppress a smile. This case _was_ good. It was so good that it made the idea of working with Jake almost bearable. If they solved this it would make their careers. She'd be that much closer to being Captain.

Jake hadn't bothered to suppress his glee. His jaw was dropped in a large gasp-smile that only Jake could accomplish. Amy was pretty sure he forgot about the whole "forgetting Amy existed" charade because he looked at her with expectant eyes that asked " _isn't this AWESOME?!_ "

"Try not to be too distressed Peralta" Holt said, his words cutting through the joy radiating from Jake. Jake cleared his throat and dropped his expression.

"Sir, Santiago and I will investigate this crime and bring this son-of-a-bitch to Justice, sir" Jake said, putting on his John McClane voice.

"Detective?" Holt asked.

"Yes, sir?"

"Get out of my office"

"Yes, sir"

* * *

Amy got in the passenger seat of Jake's beat-up Mustang and a vision of their first "date" came into her mind. It sent a wave of pain through her chest and she did her best to shake the memory away. The smell of old cheese didn't really help though.

"Can you even _believe_ this case?!" Jake asked. He was like a kid on Christmas morning. Amy couldn't blame him though. If this was Christmas 2006, then this case was a brand new Wii underneath the tree.

"We're gonna solve this case _so_ hard" she said, her own excitement getting the better of her.

"Yeah we are!" Jake said as he offered his hand up for a high-five that Amy eagerly accepted.

"Yeah!" she said and she found her eyes locking with Jake's. The smiles faded from both of their faces and all at once they were reminded that they were supposed to be ignoring each other, ignoring the fact that they used to really enjoy working with each other, ignoring that they were good friends, and especially ignoring that they _liked_ each other.

It only took two minutes for the walls to come down and for Amy to be newly aware of all the things she spent avoiding for the past three months. She saw Jake the realization fall on his eyes as well. His hand had lingered on hers for just the slightest bit too long before he snatched it back, as if her hand was a hot pan he accidently touched. He looked ahead and started the car.

"Welp, we better hurry" he said, his voice distant and not his own. The car roared to life and snaked into the closest lane.

Amy let out a breath she had been holding and an uncomfortable tightness held onto her ribcage.

"Yeah" she said as she looked out the window and watched as New York blurred by her.

* * *

The scene was busy with flashbulbs bursting and forensic analysts running around collecting evidence. It was even more grandiose than Amy imagined. The victim was in the center of the bottom floor of an abandoned warehouse, but it looked more like the inside of a jewelry box. The killer had fixed the floor with cherry varnished wood in a box around the victim—the ballerina. Behind her was more of the same wood framed around a giant mirror.

Then, there was the victim herself. She was posed elegantly with her feet together in point shoes. She wore a moon-white leotard with shell-pink tights and tutu, and a sparkling headband in her hair. Her left arm was extended in front of her chest, while the right hovered above her neat, brunette bun like an umbrella. Her shoulders were back and her chest was out. Amy assumed the killer posed her before Rigor Mortis set in. It was the only way he could have gotten the pose just right. Rigor Mortis didn't support her alone, however. A metal pipe followed her arched back and then circled around her waist. Piano strings wrapped around her wrists and boards kept her legs straight. Her skin was painted a pearly-white color and her face was painted like a porcelain doll.

This was all on top of a mechanism that spun her round and round in a constant loop. The piano wires that held her arms up were connected to another mechanism that followed her spinning motion. All of this was accompanied by speakers that played a music box version of "Für Elise".

Amy looked on in horror. She had never seen such showboating in a murder before. She was horrified, yes, but a part of her was actually _impressed_. She cursed herself for feeling that way, but she couldn't deny the artistry, the sheer attention to detail.

Amy looked over at Jake and saw the awe in his eyes as well. She wondered if he was battling with disgust and wonderment over the scene, like she had.

"Wow, uh…" Jake said, his eyes focused in on the ballerina. For once, Jake Peralta was short on words.

"We should talk to the ME" Amy said, snapping him out of his trance. He agreed and they found a thin man with glasses wearing a jacket that said "Medical Examiner" across his back. The man was close to the body and jotting notes down on a clipboard, his brow furrowed in frustration. As they approached, the man noticed them and greeted them with an outstretched hand. Amy shook it first.

"Hi, Henry Farris: ME" he said.

"Amy Santiago: Detective" she replied back with a smile. Henry shook Jake's hand next.

"Jake Peralta: Superior Detective" he said with a smart smirk. Amy rolled her eyes and Henry looked confused.

"So, what can you tell us?" Jake asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"Not much, unfortunately. We still haven't figured out the best way to get her down without damaging evidence" he said, looking back at the ballerina and scrunching his face.

"Anything around that might identify the victim?" Amy asked. Henry shook his head.

"Nope. Wouldn't expect the killer to leave such a thing. I think it's safe to say that the killer doesn't see his victims as people, but as props. He would have thrown out anything that made her anything other than a ballerina in a jewelry box. Looking at all the muscle definition in her legs, I have a hunch she might actually come from a dance background"

"What about cause of death?" Jake asked. Henry shook his head again and sighed.

"Well, I can't see any sort of wound anywhere. Her skin seems to be perfect, so I'm thinking she might have been poisoned, but I won't know anything until I get her to the lab" he said. He looked stumped by the entire thing.

"Did you find any physical evidence? Fingerprints? Semen? Anything?" Amy asked and she jabbed Jake with her elbow when he snorted at the word "semen".

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. This is the cleanest crime scene I've ever seen. It's incredible. All I can tell you for certain is that it's the exact same MO as the first victim. No way it's a copy-cat. It's too intricate and the mechanisms are nearly identical. We'll have to put it through forensics, but I'll bet anything it's the same kind of paint"

"What about the first victim? How was he killed?" Amy asked.

"One small bullet through the heart. I think the killer evolved though. The bullet was too messy. It left a stain on his work, so he tried something else with the girl"

"Looks like he perfected the MO" Jake said as he looked at the twirling girl.

Amy took a deep breath in, her ears filling with the song that felt like a ghost passing through her.

"Which means he'll kill again" she said, and the heavy silence that befell them assured her it was only a matter of time.

* * *

 **AN:** Helllll yeah, I'm back bitches! And shit son, shit's about to get dark. I think I've probably been watching/reading/playing too much Batman so I needed to do some gritty detective fanfic. This will stay pretty dark, but don't worry, there will be fluff to lighten it up. I'm excited to do a murder mystery though.

I have no idea how many chapters this will be, I'll just have to see how long it'll take our dynamic duo to figure out the mystery oooooo.

The title comes from the song "Broken Toys" by 22-Pistepirkko.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think and if you want to follow me on Tumblr my handle is crystal-gem-jessie. Thanks so much for reading! :)


	2. Rubik's Cube - Jake

**Chapter 2: Rubik's Cube – Jake**

Jake brushed against the dry skin along his index finger and realized his hands were cold. The chilly, waterless air had left his exposed hands vulnerable to drying and cracking. He wished for lotion, but pride kept him from asking Amy if she had any. In general, he tried not to ask favors from her. He tried not to ask Amy anything, actually.

Jake stared out his car window at the coffee shop she had disappeared into and hoped the line was long. He needed a breather. Being thrown together with Amy again was…hard. He put a hand to his chest unconsciously and rubbed the spot of pain that cropped up whenever he thought of Amy too much. What made it that much harder was that it was so _easy_. It was like they never stopped talking. As if no time had passed. What was the point of all the long routes to avoid her, all the times he imagined empty space occupying her desk, all the times he commanded his heart to slow when she walked by, if he still felt the same?

He thought of her bright, brown eyes and haughty smile. He felt a pressure on his chest and tried to soothe it with his hand. He sighed. Had he made any progress at all? Or was he just as in love with the woman as before? The lips that were normally curled in a constant smile tugged downwards and he brought his hand up to cover them.

This was all Holt's fault. Jake had explained everything to him. Jake thought he _understood_. He certainly seemed to, at least.

* * *

 _Jake was early. Way earlier than he'd ever been to work before. Normally, Jake slept in as late as he possibly could, but there was no way he could have slept last night anyway. Plus, he needed to be the first one in the office so he could see Holt immediately, but he probably wouldn't be coming for another thirty minutes and the silent office offered Jake no solitude from yesterday's developments. Jake sat at his desk and played with his Rubik's cube._

 _A terrible thought entered his mind. What if Amy got here really early too? She showed up early all the time. Amy would rather be trampled by a stampede of rhinos that had just run through a pile of their own feces than be late. Bumping into her seemed likely. He didn't know if he could handle being alone with her after he had just rejected her._

"Rejected her" _he thought and put down the toy. His torso slump forward, but his head was caught in his hands, elbows resting on his thighs._

"Rejected her" _echoed his mind, "_ I rejected Amy Santiago"

 _Regret and loss filled him. In one night he had realized he was full-on- hearts-and-roses in love with her, but also a huge danger to her that needed to be kept far away. For years, he had been pining. Ever since he first met her, he was drawn to her, like the jelly-side of a piece of toast was drawn to the ground. Even if he denied it, Jake always knew he wanted to be more than just partners with his partner. All he ever wanted was her and she had come to him,_ told _him she wanted to be with_ him _, kissed him, made it clear, but he pushed her away._

"Why? _" he asked himself for the thousandth time, but he inevitably remembered nearly getting her killed because he was more concerned with her than the job._ The Job. _That was it, wasn't it? How could they affectively work together and be in a relationship? Wouldn't he constantly be pulling her aside for secret kisses and forgetting about the lead? Would he start babying her in the field because he couldn't deal with her getting hurt? A light bulb illuminated in his head._

 _He was afraid. He was afraid of loving her more than he did, but he still ached to be with her, to kiss her every time he saw her, to wake up beside her: the whole cliché-riddled nine yards. The only other option was leaving the 99 and the thought of that made his stomach drop. He didn't want to leave them and he was pretty sure Amy would feel guilty if he left. What kind of start to a relationship was that? No,_ this _was the best course of action._

 _After Jake agonized by himself for twenty minutes, the elevator doors opened and his captain stepped out of it. Jake stood up and flattened the material of his pants against his upper thighs—a nervous tick he recently realized he had._

 _Captain Holt approached him and Jake noticed some confusion shining through his usual blank face._

" _Peralta?" Holt greeted as he approached him._

" _Morning, Captain"_

" _Good morning. Why are you so early? You're never early" Holt said, suspicion creeping into his tone._

" _Well sir, I want to be a better detective! Get stuff done by the books. Can't do that if I'm late all the time!" Jake said with a cheeky smile. Holt stared on at him._

" _I actually really wanted to talk to you about something. It's kinda important" Jake said._

" _Oh, I see. Well, let's go to my office" Holt said as he gestured to it. Jake complied and sat down in the chair across Holt's desk. Holt followed, closed the door behind him, and sat at his desk._

" _Is everything okay, Peralta?" he asked and Jake wondered if Holt was concerned. He knew Holt wasn't going to understand, but he needed to do it anyway. Jake pulled out a piece of paper from his messenger bag and held it out to his captain._

" _Yeah, yeah, I, uh, just wanted to give you this" Jake said and he realized his hands were shaking. Holt took the paper and read it over. When he realized what it was, the captain froze, and slowly looked up at Jake. A new ache burned in Jake's chest._

" _Peralta, this is a new partner request form" he said finally, as if he wasn't sure Jake knew what it was._

" _Yes, sir, it is" Jake said, trying his best to sound assured and confident._

" _Peralta, you're going to have to explain this to me because I, for the life of me, can't understand why you'd want to stop being partners with Santiago" Holt said, his eyes boring into Jake's soul. Jake took a deep breath and prayed for courage._

" _Uh, well, the 'why' part is complicated-"_

" _Peralta, you and Santiago have one of the largest combined arrest records in the entirety of the NYPD—a fact I know you're well aware of because you were bragging about it to the entire precinct a week ago. What makes you think I'm going to actually follow through with this request?" Holt asked. Jake needed to be direct._

" _Sir, I think Santiago and I's relationship has become…_ unprofessional _"_

" _You're usually unprofessional. Don't drag Santiago into that" Holt said. Maybe he needed to be even more direct._

" _No, I mean my_ feelings _for Santiago have become unprofessional" Jake said, hoping this would get the message across._

" _I don't understand" Holt said simply and Jake pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Jake was going to have to spell it out for him, wasn't he?_

" _Captain, I'm in love with Amy Santiago and I think it would impede our work if we continued to be partners" Jake said, his cheeks getting hot. He had never said it out loud before and the terrible consequence of having outside ears hear it was that it made it irreversible. There was no more lying to himself. Now that he said it to Holt, it was absolutely true. He loved her._

 _His confession had the desired effect because Holt sat back with visible shock on his face._

" _Oh._ Oh. _I see. Yes, I can see your concern" Holt said and Jake nodded._

" _Yeah"_

" _Is this a recent development?" Holt asked. Jake wasn't sure he wanted to talk about this anymore._

" _I've always had a crush, but things kind of…escalated after the assignment"_

" _Oh"_

" _Yeah" Jake said, looking down at the ground._

" _Have you told her?" Holt asked so gently that it made Jake snap his head up. Holt was talking to him now, not as a boss would to his employee, but almost as a father would to his son. Jake blinked back the water that glossed his eyes and shook his head._

" _No, no. We've, uh, talked a bit about_ us _, but I haven't told her_ that _, no"_

" _Oh" Holt said and then fell into silence. Jake assumed he was deep in thought because it felt like hours before he spoke again._

" _I'll push this request through right away. Santiago called off today. She's bedridden with a cold. By the time she gets back, you'll already be paired with another detective. Is she aware of the request?"_

" _She is"_

" _Good"_

" _Well, thank you, Captain. I'm gonna start on my case files. They've been piling up" Jake said as he stood up._

" _Of course, and Jake?" Holt asked. Jake turned around, surprised to be called by his first name._

" _Yeah?"_

" _Take it easy, okay?"_

" _Yes, sir" Jake replied and stepped out of the office. A sinking feeling gripped him as he left. He blamed it on the small part of his heart he left with the piece of paper on Holt's desk. It was done._

* * *

Three months later and he had done a good job of keeping up his normal 99 routine. He solved cases (by not involving Hitchcock in _any_ way), he goofed around with Boyle, and he poked fun at Holt. The only difference was that he had to completely work his way around Amy. He didn't look at her, he didn't speak to her, and he made sure never to be alone with her. Cutting her out had made him realize that one of the biggest reasons he wanted to stay at the 99 was because she was there. It wasn't much fun pretending she wasn't.

It didn't change that being partners again would be difficult. Jake had come to terms with the fact that if he didn't get over her in three months of ignoring her, then he probably wouldn't get over her in the ensuing months of being close to her. Jake mentally cursed. Why did Holt have to put them back together? It was just going to make it harder. Not to mention the hurt Jake felt at Holt disregarding their moment after he had divulged all.

Jake's thoughts were cut short when he saw Amy coming out of the coffee shop with two cups in her hands. He opened the door for her and she slid in. She handed him his cup and put on her seat belt.

"Thanks" he said, straining to keep his tone casual.

"No problem. Okay, so what next?" she asked in regards to the case. Jake had almost forgotten.

"Oh, um, well I think we should go back to the precinct and see what evidence we have on the first victim. Let's see if we can get a suspect pool going. Make an-"

"Evidence board?!" Amy asked gleefully. Jake forgot how much she loved organizing them.

"Yes, Amy, an evidence board" he confirmed. This made her squeak and clap her hands together.

"C'mon Peralta, _put the pedal to the metal_ " she said, attempting an odd surfer accent in her excitement. Jake scrunched up his face and shook his head, but did as he was told.

* * *

Were they staring? Yeah, they were definitely staring. The precinct seemed to quiet as soon as Jake and Amy had stepped off the elevator.

"Jake! _Amy_ " Boyle greeted, a huge grin eclipsing his face.

"Hey, Charles" Jake answered, weary of Boyle's comments.

"So," Boyle started as he gestured to the two of them, "how's it hangin'?"

"Good, Boyle" Amy said, an edge to her voice.

"So, anything, uh _new_ with you two?" he asked, digging for gold. Jake and Amy looked at each other and both started chiming in "No"s and "Not Really"s.

"Oh, so you haven't _reconnected_ with someone recently and realized you were broken without them and the only way to be whole again is to be with that person forever?" Boyle asked.

"Nope. Bye, Charles" Jake said promptly as he swerved past Boyle to the evidence lock-up. Amy followed suit.

* * *

The lock-up was mercifully empty. Jake did _not_ need any whispers or looks in their direction, especially after that little bit of Charles-shtick. He made a b-line for the "V" section and found a single manila envelope on Preston Vice. He brought it to a table in the center of the room for them to look at.

"Is this it?" Amy said as she grabbed the envelope and turned side-to-side. Jake grabbed it back from her.

"There was no physical evidence at either crime scenes, what did you expect?" Jake asked.

"More than an _envelope_ " she confessed. Jake shrugged and opened its contents. It really was slim-pickings. There were plenty of pictures from the crime scene and autopsy, but nothing they didn't know. The body was much like the second victim. He was posed and painted as a G.I. Joe doll with an intricately built set to go with him.

"Hey look, here's something on the victim. 'Vice, Preston: 28, male. Officer in the military, deployed to Afghanistan twice. His parents died in a car crash when he was 19. No siblings. Single'" Amy reported.

"Great, so he has no one surviving him? That'll make our interviews pretty quick" Jake said, frustrated.

"Guess we know why we've only got an envelope" Amy mused.

"Yeah, I'm willing to bet this wasn't a happy accident for our killer. He's probably going after loners. I wouldn't be surprised if the ballerina was the same" Jake said. Amy nodded.

"There had to be someone he was close to that we can question. We should check with neighbors and fellow soldiers in his unit. Plus, G.I. Joe was a soldier, which means the second victim was probably a dancer. It's not nothing"

"Yeah, you're right. We'll get a lot from the autopsy too" Jake said as he examined a picture of the bullet wound.

"Yeah" Amy agreed as she gathered the evidence back into the envelope, eager to get to her board.

* * *

Jake sat on top of a table in the conference room and stared at the little evidence they had so far. Jake didn't like to be a pessimist, but he was pretty sure the killer would kill again before they even had a lead.

Amy was carefully taping a picture to the board and Jake thought to himself about how shiny her hair was. She wrote a caption for the photo and his eyes locked on her hands. A memory of those hands tangled in his hair forced its way into his head.

"Guh!" he shouted, surprised by the sudden potency of the memory. Amy turned around in alarm.

"What?!" she aked.

"No, sorry. It's nothing, there was just a spider on my hand. Sorry" Jake said quickly.

"Oh" she said and went back to her board. Jake let out a breath he was holding. He was starting to _stare_ at her again. Perfect.

Relief came to him quickly, however. His phone vibrated with the name Henry Farris illuminating it. Jake answered without missing a beat.

"What's up, doc?" Jake asked.

"I've finished the autopsy. There are some things I'd like you to see" Dr. Farris replied.

"We'll be right there" Jake said and hung up the phone.

"Autopsy?" Amy asked.

"Autopsy"

* * *

Jake had never been too fond of crime labs, especially the part of crime labs that held a bunch of dead bodies in a wall. Amy had no such reservations.

He looked over at Amy who was joyfully looking at what seemed to be a series of photos depicting an axe-murder scene.

"Boy, I'd love to get my hands on _this_ case. Murderer took all of the victims left _calves_. Just whacked it right off at the knee, then cut off the foot and put the foot back. I mean, who does that?" Amy asked, still far too excited about it.

"Aw, I missed you Ames" Jake said.

"You what?" Amy asked, her demeanor getting a bit more serious.

"Nothing, just mumbling to myself" Jake said, a little appalled by his slip. He was trying his best to keep her at arm's length and little sentiments like that didn't help.

"Oh, okay" she said and put her attention back on the grizzly scene.

Jake stared at her back and indulged in it. How long had he seen more than a glimpse of her? It was too easy to drink the sight of her in.

" _I don't know if I can do this_ " he thought. Her presence was too overwhelming after fasting for so long. How could he focus when he had an excuse to look at her?

"Ah, detectives, it's good to see you again" said a voice from behind them. Jake turned around and saw Dr. Farris coming in through the lab door.

"Hey, Doc" Jake greeted, grateful for the distraction from his thoughts.

"If you follow me this way, please" Dr. Farris said as he lead them to an examining table with a body covered by a scrub-blue sheet. The doctor pulled back the sheet to reveal the ballerina.

"We got a positive ID from dental records and New York DMV that the victim was one Kelly Fieldson. She was a student at New York Uinversity's Tisch School of the Arts studying dance. Twenty-years-old. Single" Dr. Farris said. Amy and Jake quickly took out their notepads and jotted down her specs.

"Did you figure out the cause of death?" Amy asked.

"Well, yes and no. I was right about poison, but I'm not sure what the poison was. I sent her blood to Bloodwork so I should get the results in a couple of days. Whatever it was, the scarring in her throat suggests it made her vomit. She had muscle paralysis and respiratory failure, which, of course, led to her death. She suffocated and it kept the outside of her body spotless. I can only assume that was his goal"

"Any guess on what the poison was?" Jake asked.

"Some sort of plant. I found traces of leaves, but because they were masticated, I couldn't look it up"

"How about the paint?" Amy questioned further.

"A sample has been sent to forensics. They're breaking it down by ingredient for you. I'm guessing it was homemade. He definitely didn't purchase it at Home Depot. The paint stays on her skin without blemish and it didn't want to come off when I was cleaning the body"

"Was there any bruising or distress wounds?" Jake asked.

"Nope, nothing. She was left in pristine condition"

"Well…at least we have a name" Jake said, slightly disappointed. He looked over Kelly's face. She was pretty and very young. A wave of sadness washed over him. Tisch was so hard to get into. She must have been crazy talented. He sighed.

A loud set of pings disrupted his thought process and he looked up to see Amy answering her cell phone.

"Sir? _Crap_ …yes. Yes, he's with me. We'll head over immediately. Yes. Thanks. Bye" Amy said. She put the phone back in her pocket and turned to Jake. He knew something was wrong. Her shoulders had dropped and her face fell.

"What? What is it?" Jake asked.

"They found another body" Amy said.

" _Crap_ "

* * *

 **AN:** This chapter is so long jfc. Alright here ya go. Pining Jake af.

So fun fact: The Toy Box Killer is based loosely off Zsasz from the Batman comics and Arkham games.

I'm having too much fun writing the crime parts s2s.

Thanks for all your support! I always read and reply to comments and they are very, very appreciated. Hope you guys liked this chapter!


	3. Barbie Doll - Amy

**Chapter 3: Barbie Doll – Amy**

It was horrible. Really, really horrible. Amy couldn't think of another word to describe it. It was just _horrible_.

The scene was very much the same to the others, but where the first two victims had vacant expressions, this one had a smile. The victim had been fashioned into a Barbie doll and a metal piece had been put in her mouth to make her smile. Her eyelids were even propped open to replicate the Barbie countenance as much as possible. Amy wasn't made squeamish easily, but something about her eyes and smile made all this hard for her to stomach.

" _Jesus_ " Jake mumbled beside her.

"I know" she replied and let out a breath she'd been holding.

"It must have taken him months to make that" Jake said, referring to the large Dream House behind the victim. The killer had spared no expense with the scenery. The Dream House was two stories high and big enough for children to play in. In front of the house was a lawn with perfectly trimmed bushes in two straight lines. There were back drops that had been put up around the scene with suburban settings full of trees, more Dream Houses, and the occasional blue bird. Right in the center was Barbie herself with a big, hair-sprayed wig, a pink and white polka dot summer dress, and matching white heels. Not to mention, a smile.

Amy shook her head.

"It would have taken him months to make that rotating device for the ballerina too. I bet he's been building the set pieces for a while and when he finds someone who meets his criteria, that's when he displays"

"I guess that would _sort of_ explain the sporadic timeline. Seriously, our first victim was a month before the second and we found her _yesterday_. I don't get it, why wait so long for the second victim?" Jake asked.

"Well, Preston Vice was shot and the ME mentioned how he thought it was 'too messy' for the killer. Kelly Fieldson was poisoned and from the looks of it, so was Barbie. Maybe he needed a month to find a better method? Plus, if he finds the right person and the set's all made, there's no need for him to wait"

"Which means we could have another victim tomorrow. Where is he finding the victims?" Jake asked, more to himself than Amy.

"He's gathering info on them somehow. All of the victims have matched their toy counterparts in more ways than one. It's not a coincidence"

"No, it's not" Jake said, his brow furrowed, "Maybe he has a way of interviewing them"

"What do you mean?" Amy asked.

"Okay, so he has to know what their job is, right? It's not enough just to look the part. They need to be _like_ the toy. So, maybe he's come into contact with all these people before in a non-threatening situation. Like, in a _store_ "

Amy understood now. All of these people seemed completely unrelated to each other, but maybe they all went to the same store where a worker struck up polite conversation. It wouldn't be too hard to get somebody's occupation out of them. Amy had an idea.

"Like, in a _toy store_?" Amy suggested. Jake looked at her grinned.

"My thoughts exactly, Santiago"

* * *

"But what's his end game? Does he have a set of toys he needs to remake? Or does he just make them as them come?" Jake asked. Amy could see the cogs in his brain working overtime, which worried her slightly since he was driving. The case was starting to get a hold of him and Amy doubted he'd get any sleep until it was solved. Hell, she doubted she would.

"Maybe he had an actual toy box and he's trying to recreate it" Amy offered.

"Yeah, maybe they were his only friends growing up or something so he wants to make them real"

"It's possible. Or…" Amy said as the rest of her sentence lost in her throat.

"'Or' what?"

"…Or he'll just keep killing until he's caught. The guy has to think he's an artist. I mean, look at all the effort he puts into each murder. They're intricate, filled with care. If he thinks he's an artist, he's going to do what artist's do and create. These murders aren't just murders, they're installations" Amy said. This made Jake quiet and Amy saw scenarios dance in his chocolate eyes.

"Y'know, I think that makes more sense"

"Really? I was thinking-" Amy said, but was interrupted by the pinging of her phone.

"That better not be another victim" Jake said.

"You know, I don't normally get too many calls from murdered people at this time of day" she shot back.

"Oh, real cleaver-"

"Santiago speaking" Amy said into her phone.

" _Hey. It's me_ " Rosa said.

"Hey! What's up?"

" _We just got a phone call from a girlfriend of one of your vics, Vice. She was trying to report him as a missing person. Transferred her to me instead. She cried. It was gross"_

"Did you tell her he was dead?!" Amy asked.

" _No. I told her you losers were coming over to ask her some questions. I just texted you the address_ " Rosa said and then promptly hung up. Amy sighed.

"What?" Jake asked, worried.

"We're going to have to break it to Preston Vice's girlfriend that he's been dead for a month"

"Oh, _great_ "

* * *

Jake was the one to break the news. He was way better at that stuff than Amy. Amy couldn't properly break up with someone without hurting them, so there was no way she was sensitive enough to tell someone their lover was dead.

"Anna, I'm really sorry for your loss" Jake said as he sat on the couch adjacent from the pretty red-headed lady crying in her arm chair. She actually wasn't as bad off as Amy would have thought. Only a few tears streamed down her face.

"It's okay, um, we-we had only gone on a few dates, but I-I don't know," she said as she wiped her face and took a big breath in, "I kind of had this feeling that he was going to be the 'one', y'know? I normally don't believe in stuff like that, but Preston...Preston was _different_ "

"Of course. Is it okay if I ask you some questions?" Jake asked, his voice calm and kind. Amy looked at him from where she was standing and a warm feeling seeped into her veins like honey. His eyes were soft with understanding and he nodded politely to let her know he was listening. Amy realized she had forgotten about this side of him. She forgot about that inexplicable compassion that he couldn't seem to run away from, even if it would make everything easier. It would be easier for her, at least.

"Sure, whatever I can do to help" Anna said, wiping away another tear.

"When was the last time you saw Preston?" Jake asked and Amy had her pen and notepad ready.

"Um, about a month ago. We went to dinner at Luigi's, which was _such_ a nice place and he brought me flowers. We walked in the park a little and he came up to my apartment afterwards. He left the next morning after we had breakfast and then we had a date planned that night, but he never showed"

"Why didn't you report it right away?" Amy asked, perhaps a little too harshly because Anna winced.

"Well, for a while I thought he just didn't want to see me anymore, but yesterday, I bumped into one of Preston's friends at a coffee shop. He and my friend, Alicia, are friends and they were the ones who set Preston and I up. So, we started talking and I asked him how Preston was and he looked at me all weird, then he said 'I haven't talked to him in a while, I was going to ask you how he was'. I told him how I haven't heard from him in a month and he just never called me back, and skipped our date. Then he texted a few people asking if they've heard from Preston at all and everyone said 'no', then we both started worrying that something was wrong. That's when I decided to call the police" Anna said, her tears coming more often now.

Jake continued to gently ask her questions, but at the end of it all, Amy looked down at her notepad and realized they had nothing. They both thanked Anna for her time and headed to the car. Amy could tell Jake was getting frustrated because he was mumbling his grievances under his breath. Once they were in the car, Jake exploded.

"UGH! That gave us nothing! This case is standing still"

"Whoa, hold on crazy. It's not standing still. We still have to check out the toy stores and we don't even have all of the autopsy reports backs yet" she said.

"I feel like they're just going to lead to more dead ends"

"Hey, what's your deal? You picked an odd time to get all negative Nancy on me"

"I'm not! I just-" Jake started, holding something back.

"You just what?" Amy asked.

"I just want this case to be over" he said.

"Yeah, we both do. There's a crazy serial killer out there"

"Amy…"

"What?"

"There was something Anna was saying earlier…about Preston"

"Did you think of something?" Amy asked, believing he had realized something she hadn't. Jake turned his head to look at her and his expression that Amy couldn't read, even if a book existed that would allow her to study the subject of Jake's faces. He stared right into her soul and after a while she had to break eye contact.

"Jake, what's going on? You're kinda scaring me" Amy said, and that seemed to break the spell over him.

"Sorry, sorry. I think I need coffee or rest, but probably just coffee. Want to pick some up on the way to the precinct?" he asked, his usual light tone coming back.

"Yeah, that sounds good" Amy said and Jake smiled. He started the car and as they drove, Amy would steal side glances at him.

" _What the_ hell _was that about?_ " she thought, completely confused by the odd conversation. She couldn't make heads or tails of it, but, for some reason, her heart was still racing.

* * *

The car drive back to the precinct took far too long because it let Amy think far too much. She kept wondering what Jake was thinking and why it affected her as much as it did. She thought about how easily he affected her in general. She thought about the soft way he looked at Anna and Amy wished he would look at her softly too, but then she'd quickly tell herself how stupid she was. Her mind wandered to the very first time they kissed: how it was brought on by a pushy identity thief, underneath a sky full of stars with the wind blowing in her hair, how everyone was watching, but most of all, she thought of the way Jake's lips felt: Soft, hot, and wet. She thought of the way he looked at her after they kissed, like she _was_ the sky full of stars. Amy didn't think she'd ever been so overwhelmed by a look before. It was so full of… _something_. She didn't know what it was, but it scared her and she wanted more of it.

Amy closed her eyes and told herself to stop thinking about it. She was only hurting herself. The simple truth of it was, she wanted more Jake kisses and more indulgent gazes, but she was sure their chance had passed. If Jake was able to not look at her for three months, then he must not have been that into her in the first place. She felt a violent stab in her chest.

" _It doesn't matter, Amy. It's not a big deal_ " She thought, but she wasn't convinced.

Amy tried to go back to figuring out why he would bring up something that Anna said and then proceed to look at her for a solid two minutes. He had said something about "just wanting this case to be over". Maybe he was hoping Holt would separate them again after this case. Maybe he wanted it to be over so he didn't have to be around her. An even more violent stab attacked her chest.

" _Don't think about it, Amy,_ " she thought, " _Don't think_ "

* * *

The precinct bullpen was mercifully less crowded than it had been the last time they made a grand entrance. Amy realized everyone probably went home and the night crew was coming soon. Boyle, who was the last detective left, was at his desk filling out paper work.

"Ah, Charles! Just the man I was looking for!" Jake said, offering Boyle a high-five that he accepted with gusto.

"Jakey! Why were you looking for me?" Boyle asked.

"I need to triangulate a location for a murder case we're working and you're the lucky guy who's gonna help" Jake said with finger guns aimed at Boyle for emphasis.

"Anything for you Jake! Wait, this isn't like the time you wanted me to triangulate where Jenny Gildenhorn lived, is it?" Boyle asked. Amy looked at Jake and felt her face scrunch up.

"You wanted him to _what_?" Amy asked. Jake looked decidedly nervous.

"Hey, that is not what happened, okay? I just wanted to find a perp who happened to go the same coffee shop, the same book store, and the same office building as Jenny. It was totally normal!" Jake said. Amy was not convinced.

"Right" she said.

"Welp, we've got a lot of triangu-la-ter-at-ing to do so we should go!" Jake said as he pushed Boyle towards a conference room.

* * *

Triangulation, while useful, was dull as dirt and took forever. After two hours of Boyle calculating sins and tans, Amy and Jake were both about to explode.

" _Boyle_! Are you almost done?" Amy asked as she spun around in a wheeled chair.

"Yeah man, this sucks" Jake agreed. Boyle turned away from his map, which was filled with numbers and triangles.

"Well, _excuse me_. Triangulation is an art _and_ a science. It takes time. Plus, I just finished" Boyle said with triumph on his face.

"Awesome! What do you got for me, buddy?" Jake asked as he stood up and approached the board.

"Okay, so I used the warehouses as our main points, taking into account the residencies of the first two victims. If my calculations are correct, the toy store you're looking for should be in this area" Boyle said as he circled a nickel-sized section in the middle of the map.

"How many toy stores are in this area?" Jake asked.

"Are we talking mom-and-pop shops or corporate toy stores?" Boyle asked.

"Mom-and-pop" Jake answered.

"Oh, well I think only one…," Boyle said as he checked his reference sheet with a list of toy stores in their district, "Yup, just one. It's called 'John-in-the-Box Toys' on 3rd street"

"'John-in-the-Box'? Are we sure this is the right _kind_ of toy store?" Amy asked, her face curled in disgust. She was pretty sure no parents would take their kid to a place named that.

"Yeah, it's real cute. They specialize in toys that are non-electric, like dolls and blocks, that kind of thing. My third favorite empanada place is right across the street"

"Yeah, Amy! Get your head out of the gutter!" Jake snapped at her and she scowled at him.

" _Anyway_ , thank you, Boyle. You really pulled through for us. Now, let's go" Amy said as she headed to the door.

"Uh, Amy, it's nine o' clock. They're closed by now" Boyle said. Amy stopped in her tracks, went back to her seat, and crumpled in it.

" _Dammit_ "

* * *

 **AN:** Chapter three is done! I still have no idea how long this will be so I'm just gonna keep going.

John-in-the-Box is def a Dick-in-a-Box joke woops.

I think Boyle and Rosa are the easiest to write for while Jake and Amy are the hardest why

Also, don't worry about that whole weird conversation thing. It'll make sense in the next chapter ;)

Thanks for all the support and the comments! I appreciate them so much!


	4. Pinwheel - Jake

**Chapter 4: Pinwheel – Jake**

Jake threw his keys on the kitchen table of his apartment. The table was piled high with receipts, empty Gusher wrappers, a couple of whoopee cushions, and a lone pinwheel. Jake briefly thought that he would have a hard time finding his keys in the morning, but he pushed that thought aside and dragged himself to his shower.

The warm water was nice after the long day and he felt refreshed afterwards. He quickly changed into a pair of boxers and a ragged t-shirt he found on the ground, and then jumped into his bed. He stared at his ceiling. He was exhausted, but knew he wasn't going to sleep, at least not right away.

" _Amy…_ " he thought and the cursed himself. He had done so well. He had finally gotten to the point where she wasn't the last thing he thought of before he went to bed and here he was, back at square one: lying in his bed and thinking of her.

Jake dragged both hands down his face and groaned. Why did she have such a hold on him? Why did he have the overwhelming impulse to tell her everything whenever she looked at him? He could slap himself for how dumb he was in the car with her today.

First, he acts like a god damn infant about how the case was _hard_ , then he makes some cryptic remark about something Anna said about Preston, and then he stares at her stupid, beautiful eyes for years when she asks about it. He was coming undone and it'd only been two days. At least he wasn't stupid enough to say what he initially meant to. The reckless romantic in him was going to say something along the lines of "Anna said she thought Preston was the 'one' and that he was 'different', well you've always been like that. Since the first day we met, you were different" and then something about how he'd die without her or whatever.

Jake groaned again. Thank god his common sense came to the rescue and stopped him from saying that. How could he even get so close to saying it? He needed to stop that line of thinking, not encourage it.

Admittedly, it was hard, _especially_ when reckless-romantic Jake was 100% telling the truth. Jake _did_ have a weird feeling when he met Amy, a feeling that was much different from how any other girl had ever made him feel.

* * *

 _"Nervous about meeting your new partner, Peralta?" Terry asked, files in his hand and a smile on his face. Jake looked up at him from his desk and smiled back._

 _"Pft, nervous? No. It's not like we're going to be working together all that much anyway. I work better alone" Jake said, slapping on his best, arrogant grin._

 _"Oh, you're not going be able to pull off that whole 'Badass Cop Who Doesn't Need No Help From Nobody' thing with this one. I interviewed the girl, Peralta. She's gonna give you a run for your money" Terry said, his smile growing wider. Jake wasn't convinced and his face showed it._

 _"I highly doubt that Sarge. Just hope your new rookie doesn't quit in a week" Jake said. Terry gave him a knowing look, smiling as if he had a secret._

 _"This one ain't quittin', Peralta. In fact, she might solve your cases before you do" Terry said, which was just the right thing to say to get Jake revved up. He was about to comment when Boyle and two other cops brought in a massive perp._

 _"Charles! Is that the guy who kept stealing ceramic bulls?" Jake asked, remembering the case Boyle had been on for weeks._

 _"Yup! Ceramic bulls of New York City can sleep safe tonight" Boyle said as he and the other cops handcuffed him to Boyle's desk. The perp was about to rip his shirt, his muscles were so big. Jake wondered how they pinned him down in the first place._

 _"Well, thank god for that" Jake said, turning back to Terry to tell him off. He was stopped, however, by the sight of the elevator doors opening in the corner of his eye. He stared transfixed, as if his body knew this particular door-opening was monumental. The doors opened slowly. Had they always opened that slowly?_

 _He saw her shoes first—sensible, low heels that led to her practical grey slacks that bled into her same-colored blazer, which covered a night-sky-blue blouse. When he finally saw her face, Jake involuntarily stood up. She was beautiful, sure, but it was more than that. He was sure he had never seen her in all his life, and yet he was certain he recognized her. It was like he was a mountain and she was an avalanche that dropped three thousand tons of snow onto his soul. She was an epiphany and he understood._

 _"_ I have to talk to her _" he thought, starting towards her, but Terry got to her first. He smiled at her and shook her hand. She smiled back and Jake's heart stopped. He briefly wondered if he was sick. The last time he went to the doctor_ was _six years ago._

 _As Terry and the woman talked, Terry made a vague reference towards Jake and stepped in his direction._

 _"_ Oh, god. They're coming over. Oh god oh god oh god. I didn't shower today. Oh my god _" Jake thought as they approached._

 _"Jake! I want you to meet your new partner" Terry said, gesturing to the woman next to him, who was way prettier up close._

 _"My,_ what _?" Jake asked. This was the_ rookie _?_

 _"Your_ partner _. This is Detective Amy Santiago. Santiago, this will be your partner Detective Jacob Peralta. He's only been with the Nine-Nine for two years, but he has the best arrest record out of everyone in the precinct. I think you guys are going to make a great team. You have a lot to learn from each other" Terry said genuinely. Jake was still stunned by the news that_ this _was his new partner. How could he concentrate with a huge beacon of light blinding him every five seconds? Still, he put his hand out for her to shake._

 _"Call me Jake" and a smile was all he was able to get out before she shook his hand. His hand burned from her touch and was also a little sore because,_ damn _, that was a firm handshake. She had a glint in her eyes that said "I'm gonna pound your dumb record into the ground". Maybe Terry was right about this girl giving him a run for his money._

 _"It's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you. Can't wait to get to work" she said and this time she smiled directly at him. If his heart had stopped before, she had just kick-started it into full-on racing mode._

 _"Yeah. Me too" he said, his voice weaker than usual. She was going to say something else, but the sound of a battle cry interrupted her. The perp that Boyle brought in had seemingly broken his handcuffs and began flinging the chair he was sitting on above his head. He threw the chair, hitting an officer square in the face and then punched Boyle in the nose, which made him promptly fell over._

 _Jake was about to help when a haze of grey took down the guy so fast he didn't see how. After his eyes adjusted, he saw Santiago on top of the perp with her knee in his back and her hands cuffing his wrists. Had Santiago, a rookie who weighed about 120 pounds just taken this guy out?_

" _Did I just see what I think I saw?" Jake asked._

" _Oh, yeah, Jake. What'd I tell you? Run for your money" Terry said with a quick smile. He then went over to help get the perp in the holding cell. Once they had him in, Terry led Santiago to the Captain's office._

" _You'll like Captain McGinley. He's very…um, laid back" Terry said right before they disappeared into the office. Jake collapsed back into his chair._

 _That was his_ partner _? Part of him was terrified to work with her and then another part would be glad to spend as much time with her as possible. He didn't know what to make of her just yet, but one thing was clear: this girl was different._

* * *

Jake hadn't been wrong about that. She was different. After that incident, he learned that Amy Santiago was fiercely competitive and she wanted his title for most arrests _badly_. A couple of times he had tried to impress her with how good of a detective he was, but she took that as a challenge and would do her best to one-up him. She was also an unbelievable brown-noser and pencil-pusher, always doing what she could to get ahead. She was a know-it-all, a nerd, full of arrogance, and she followed every stickin' rule there was.

Jake would also learn that she was kind, smart, loyal, and overall, just a great detective. Even though they seemed to always be competing with each other, Amy never failed to help him when he needed it. He tried to deny the feelings that kept bubbling up whenever she smiled or said something vaguely nice to him, but after Boyle's probing and stupid Teddy flirting with her, Jake couldn't keep lying to himself. He liked her. _A lot_. It wasn't just a crush either. He knew she was _different_.

" _Different…_ " Jake thought. He knew what different felt like, but what did it mean? The answer was floating around in his brain, but he was scared to acknowledge it. His talk with Anna popped into his mind.

" _I kind of had this feeling that he was going to be the 'one', y'know?_ " she had said.

The ' _one_ '. Hell, if that wasn't a heavy statement. A sweeping realization punched him in the gut. Was there a part of him that thought of Amy as the 'one'?

Another punch to the gut.

A flash of Amy in a white dress.

Another flash of her smiling and looking down at her stomach.

Another punch to the gut.

" _No! Stop it!_ " He thought as he forced a pillow to his face. He wanted to erase all of these feelings, but it was no use. They had been there for six years and after squashing them down constantly, something had to give. It gave that night he kissed her. He realized he loved her soon after, then after squashing all those feelings down for another three months and then working with her again—it had led him here. If this wasn't a dam breaking, he didn't know what was. Amy was more to him than someone he wanted to date; she was someone he wanted to _be_ with. For a long time. A _really_ long time.

" _Hell, if I'm so serious about this, then why don't I get a goddamn transfer and ask her out?_ " he asked himself. He knew he still didn't want to leave the Nine-Nine, but maybe it was worth the sacrifice. He _loved_ this girl, for god's sake.

A horrible thought entered his mind. He had rejected her. She had tried to give them a shot, but he told her 'no'. She might have been completely over him by now. Why would she even be interested? He hurt her. He had been very clear and she wasn't the type to pine forever. Like he was.

Horrible fear gripped his heart.

" _I probably ruined the shot I had with her for good_ " he thought and grief filled him. He had completely messed this up. He pulled the blanket over himself and gripped it tightly.

He promised himself that tomorrow would be all about the case and nothing but the case. He could worry about Amy after it was over.

* * *

That was, predictably, easier said than done. Amy was itching to get to the John-in-the-Box Toy Store so she picked him up at his place first thing in the morning. With Amy driving, it was easy to sneak glances at her, which made it almost impossible to "think about the case". He kept noticing little things like how she would bite her lip before every turn and the way her hands gripped the steering wheel. It was dizzying, intoxicating, and stupid.

"So if this place doesn't pan out, where do you think we should try next?" Amy asked, her eyes fixed on the road.

"I guess we'll talk to someone close to Kelly Fieldson. Maybe we can figure out something they all have in common"

"Sounds good. I think we're here" she said, pointing to a building at the end of the block.

"Yup. That's it. Hey, there's a spot in between that flower shop and ' _Mama Empanada_ '" Jake said and Amy parked her car where he indicated.

They exited the vehicle and walked over to the shop. It was an old corner shop with big letters in the shape of toy blocks that spelled out its name. Next to the lettering was a Jack-in-the-Box that was on a spring and moved in the breeze. The paint was chipped and the wood splintered.

"I don't know if our perp would let his toy shop look like this" Amy said.

"Yeah, I was thinking that" Jake said with a sigh. Despite the dismal exterior, they both went inside and a bell tinkled as they opened the door.

The inside was nothing like the outside. The shelves were alive with beautiful hand-made, hand-painted toys. There were dolls, carousals, Jack-in-the-Boxes, trains, toy guns, and pretty much every toy (that didn't require batteries) imaginable. Jake thought how he would have loved this place as a kid.

A man quickly appeared from behind the counter. He was a large, jovial looking man with a receding hairline and half-moon glasses.

"Ah, welcome, welcome! Let me guess: looking for a birthday present for your son?" he asked and Jake could feel himself going pale. Amy was quick to take the bait, though.

"Wow, yes! How'd you know?" she asked, smiling her best undercover smile.

"Well, my dear, I've been doing this a very long time. You get a sixth sense. Beautiful couples such as you don't come in just to have a quick peak. The son part was all my toy-builder intuition though"

"That's some top-notch intuition there" Jake said, trying not to make it sound sarcastic or nervous. The idea of pretending he had a son with Amy was not something he wanted to do for any length of time, especially when the prospect made the one stupid part of him particularly giddy.

"How old is your son turning?" the man asked.

"Four" Amy said a little too quickly.

"Now, that's a _great_ age. What's his name?"

"Alejandro" Jake said and it gained him a funny look from the toy maker.

"It was my father's name!" Amy quickly piped in, saving him.

"Yeah! We really wanted to make sure he felt connected to his culture" Jaked added.

"Ah, I see. Tradition is important for a child. So, what's his favorite toy? I can probably help you find something"

"Uh, well, he uh, really likes Toy Story and he has a Woody doll he really loves" Jake said, a sad pang hitting him.

"A cowboy! I have a few things for that" he said and disappeared to the back of the store.

" _Alejandro?!_ " Amy whispered.

" _He was named after_ your _father_ " Jake whispered back.

" _My dad's name is Robert!_ " she said and gave him a little whack on his arm for emphasis. The man came back with a handful of toys and put them on the counter.

"Okay, so I have a stick horse, some toy guns, and a sheriff set with hat, badge, and scarf. I'd recommend the whole kit-and-caboodle so he can get the whole cowboy experience. Everything is hand made by me and hand painted by my wife. These are one-of-a-kind items and you won't get this kind of quality anywhere else in Brooklyn, I can promise you that"

"Awesome! We'll take them!" Jake said, eyeing the wooden gun.

"We will?" Amy said so only Jake could hear.

"Yeah, he'll love it" Jake said, smiling.

"You're total will be $73.95" the man said and Amy dropped her jaw.

"Oh, honey, I left my wallet at home. Let's use your card" Jake said, sending her a devious smile and Amy scowled at him, but handed her debit card over to the toy builder.

"Um, so, my friend Kelly Fieldson comes in here all the time, do you know her?" Amy asked, trying to get a reaction from him. The man lifted his head and shook his head.

"No, I haven't heard that name" he said and casually went back to ringing them up. He put the toys in their own separate box and handed it to Jake.

"Thank you, good sir! By the way, what's your name?" Jake asked.

"Well, John of course!"

"Oooh, so that's you, huh?"

"Yup. Now you tell Alejandro to have a very happy birthday" John said as Jake and Amy headed towards the door.

"Thank you for all your help!" Amy said as she waved and then exited. Jake followed her to the car and put the boxes in he back, but taking the small box with the wooden gun with him to the front.

"What are you doing?" Amy snapped.

"Going to bust out that sick wooden gun" Jake said, but Amy quickly grabbed the box and put it in the back seat before Jake could rip into it.

"No, I'm going to give those to my nephew and be the best aunt ever. That's one less Christmas present to get"

"Aww please can I play with it? Just for a little!" Jake pleaded.

"No! Stop behaving like a child and let's get back on track. What do you think of John?" She asked.

"He could be our man, Ames. I mean did you see how well the toys were made? They looked like they could be the same kind of materials used at the crime scenes"

"Yeah, but he didn't so much as flinch at the name Kelly Fieldson" Amy countered.

"Maybe he never even learned their names. I doubt the killer cared about who they were. Preston Vice was G.I. Joe and Kelly Fieldson was a ballerina in a jewelry box" Jake said.

"I mean, I get what you're saying, but Jake, he never asked us where we worked"

"Maybe neither of us fit his requirements" Jake said, starting to feel like he was grasping at straws. Amy shook her head.

"I don't know, Jake. I don't think we have enough to really warrant probing any further"

"There's something here, Amy. I can feel it"

"Jake…"

"Trust me"

"I _do_ trust you"

"But?" Jake asked.

"But nothing. If you want to dig around more, we'll dig around more" she said, a small smile blooming on her face.

"Oh…thanks" Jake said, his head feeling dizzy again.

"No problem," she said and an odd tension filled the car, "Look, I got a message from Dr. Farris this morning"

"What, really? What'd he say?" Jake asked, coming out of his spell.

"He's got more info on the poison and the third victim" she said.

"Then what are ya waiting for, Santiago? Let's go get some evidence!" Jake said, excited for more information.

"You got it" Amy agreed as she started the car. Jake wasn't sure why, but he felt like a breakthrough on the case was just in reach.

And it was.

* * *

 **AN:** Boy this fic feels really different than the other stuff I've written! It's really challenging actually. Haha. Also, I literally cannot stop myself from writing angst. I think this is just my life now.

So, the flashback section when Jake first meets Amy was based on the song "Avalanche" by Walk the Moon. It's a great song so I def recommend.

Thanks again for all the support! I hope you guys like the mystery. I'm trying to add little clues here and there, but I don't want to make it obvious! Ahhh it's so hard. Either way, you guys are great and thank you!


	5. Nutcracker - Amy

**Chapter 5: Nutcracker – Amy**

Jake wasn't looking at her. He seemed excited about getting a lead from the ME, but after that, he kept his eyes out the window of her car. The sedan drifted into an uneasy silence and Amy found it hard to breath. Jake kept doing this. One minute he was joking and teasing her like he used to, then he'd shut down the next. It was giving Amy whiplash.

She wondered if the whole "son" thing threw him off. It wasn't a big deal, it's not like they had to be intimate or anything, but I guess it _did_ make her think of possible scenarios. It was easy to imagine Jake as a father and it sparked a weird attraction to him she wasn't normally aware of. It's not that Amy really wanted kids or anything (she was still thinking about it), but she did have that weird biological clock thing that would trick you into thinking you wanted a baby despite your brain having other ideas.

She just wondered if the idea of having a child with her had freaked Jake out a little. It freaked her out a little. She felt heat underneath her cheeks.

" _Get it together, Santiago!_ " she thought. Her having a crazy, family fantasy about Jake was not a road she was going to go down. Jake was her partner. Just her partner. And he was going to _stay_ just her partner. They had already had that conversation and it was time for her to woman-up and get over it.

They continued their drive in silence. It wasn't until they met up with Dr. Farris at the lab that they talked at all.

* * *

"What's up, Doc?" Jake asked in his best Bugs Bunny impression. Amy sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Are you ever going to get sick of that?" Amy asked.

"Nope" Jake said immediately.

"Detectives?" Dr. Farris interjected.

"Sorry, Dr. Farris. Please, what did you want to speak with us about?" Amy asked, reverting back to her default 'teacher's pet' mode.

"Well, I got the test results back on the poison. It's a flower called _Conium Maculatum_ or, more commonly, Poison Hemlock. It's incredibly potent and efficient. It has chemical in it called Coniine that acts a lot like nicotine in that it attacks the nervous system. If you take just six to eight leaves of this stuff your muscles start shutting down. It starts in your legs and moves its way up until you go into respiratory paralysis and die from the lack of oxygen"

"Would the killer have to export this stuff?" Amy asked.

"No. It _was_ a plant you'd only see overseas, but you can find it anywhere now"

"How long does it take to kill?" Jake asked.

"Symptoms start in about thirty minutes, but it takes hours for the paralysis to ascend"

" _Great_ " Jake said, shaking his head.

"What else you got for us?" Amy asked.

"Ah, yes! We found traces of cyanide on the victims' faces," referencing his clipboard, "and I found a positive ID on the third victim. Her name was Anita Hampton and she was an amateur model. She just got an agent, actually"

"Well doesn't that break pattern? Isn't Barbie like an aerobics instructor or something?" Amy asked. Jake laughed.

"Oh, _Amy_ , so uneducated. Barbie, while being trained in many professions, since she's a woman of the world, was originally a teen model when she first debuted" Jake said and Dr. Farris nodded.

"Why do you know so much about this?" Amy asked.

"I didn't discriminate against toys, Amy. Barbie happened to be a favorite" he replied and Amy rolled her eyes.

"Ms. Hampton was nineteen so it fits pattern pretty well. No doubt in my mind this is the same guy" Dr. Farris added.

Amy took a deep breath in. It wasn't a surprise by any means. She knew as soon as she saw Anita that it wasn't a copycat. Still, the fear that he would kill again gripped her. His moves were sporadic and they had no way of gauging when he'd take his next victim. Amy felt powerless, which was, to her, the worst feeling to have as a cop. She looked to Jake, but he didn't meet her gaze.

* * *

After speaking with Dr. Farris they went back to the bullpen and called around for people who saw Kelly Fieldson last. Jake had finally gotten hold of one of her instructors who gave up the name Kayla Rodriguez, Kelly's best friend. Jake promptly called her to set up an interview.

"Hi, Ms. Rodriguez? Yeah, hi. My name's Detective Jake Peralta. We're investigating the murder of your friend, Kelly Fieldson. My partner and I were wondering if you could come down to the precinct and answer a few questions. Yeah, that's perfect. Thank you. Bye" Jake said into the phone on his desk.

"She's coming?" Amy asked from her desk.

"A-yup. Says she can be here in an hour" Jake said, his eyes hovering on his phone. Amy looked at his face and then down at her hands.

"Jake…" she almost whispered as she looked back up at him.

"What's up?" he asked, now looking at a case file. A sad frustration overwhelmed her and she shook her head.

"Nothing, never mind"

* * *

When Kayla arrived, Amy and Jake shook her hand and led her to an interview room. Kayla was a pretty girl, with caramel skin and dark hair. Her figure was elegant and Amy was impressed by how muscled her calves were. A dark cloud loomed over the girl and she brought in the aura of grief with her as she entered the room.

Jake motioned to a seat that Kayla could take and the two of them sat across from her. She looked down into her lap.

"Ms. Rodriguez, your instructor told us that you were very close to Ms. Fieldson. This whole thing must have been very hard on you. We're very sorry for your loss" Amy said, her voice soothing. Kayla looked up at her.

"Thanks" she said.

"Kayla, can you tell us the last time you saw Kelly?" Jake asked.

"Um, yeah. It was Saturday night. I had a recital and she came to support me. I mean, it was more like a showcase than a recital. It was just scenes from different ballets. We did a scene from 'The Nutcracker'. I was the Sugar Plum Fairy. It wasn't like a full show or anything, but I've always wanted to play that part and she was in the front row with a big bouquet of flowers," Kayla said, smiling at the memory, "She was always supporting me. In dance programs, normally everyone's is at each other's throats, but Kelly was always my friend"

Tears formed in Kayla's eyes and quickly fell.

"How was she that night? Did anything seem out of the ordinary?" Amy asked. Kayla shook her head.

"No. She seemed fine. All smiles and congratulations, y'know?"

"This may seem like an odd question, but did Kelly have any reason to visit a toy store? Did she have any younger siblings or cousins?" Jake asked. Kayla shook her head again.

"No, I think she was the youngest. At least, she never told me about any kids in her family" Kayla said, her words choking on tears.

* * *

Jake and Amy rattled off some more questions for the sake of thoroughness, but nothing seemed to connect Kelly to Preston Vice. Amy felt them hit another wall. After they escorted Kayla back to her car, Jake and Amy went back to the evidence board they had set up in the conference room.

They both stared at the board in silence. There was _something_ there, but Amy couldn't find it. She sighed.

"I think we need to cover more ground. Interview more people. Do some canvasing around the toy store…" Amy suggested. Jake looked on at the board.

"Yeah, good idea" he said.

"It's all just so _clean_. He knocks them out, takes them to a separate location, the murder weapon is a plant which, of course, they digest, so no possibility of prints, and then he leaves no physical evidence" She said, once again looking at Jake.

"I know. This guy is good" Jake said, still not looking back at her. Amy felt her blood beginning to boil.

"Jake…" she said, her tone even.

"Yeah?" Jake asked with his eyes still on the board, refusing to look at her. Some sort of feeling that was a cross between anger and hurt and disappointment filled her bones. She was through with playing nice.

" _Jake!_ " Amy said with poison on her tongue. Amy was absolutely done with being invisible. Luckily, her acid tone got him to look at her.

"What?!" he asked in confusion.

"Jake, you haven't looked at me all day. I'm sick of it" She said and she felt fire in her eyes.

"That's not true…"

"Yes it is! Maybe you haven't noticed, but I sure as hell notice when someone pretends I don't exist, especially since I've been experiencing it pretty heavily for the past three months" She said. The conversation took a turn she didn't mean it to go. She couldn't help it and, if she was honest, she didn't care. She was pissed.

"Look, Amy, I didn't mean to-"

" _Screw_ what you 'meant to', okay? All that matters is what you _did_. Look, I know we were both trying to cope with the whole Johnny and Dora thing and I get you were trying to protect yourself, but I'm pretty sure not talking to me or looking at me for three months wasn't the best solution. At least, not for me" Amy said and she felt tears prickle at her eyes. She refused to cry, however, and blinked them back. Jake's expression changed and a softness came over his eyes.

"Amy, I'm so sorry. You're right. I just didn't want us to sink deeper into what we were already in and Amy, if we just went on as normal…"

"What?" she asked, unwilling to let him off the hook.

"I would have been in more trouble. You don't understand how much I-" he stopped himself and all of Amy's breath left her. She wasn't sure she could hear the end of that sentence. Not right now.

"Never mind. It's okay. I just can't keep working like this, okay? Just…stop trying so hard. To be honest with you, I'm not sure Holt's going to have us switch partners again, but you know what? I don't want him to. Jake, I like working with you. We make a good team" She said and smiled. He smiled back.

"We _do_ make a good team" he said and took in a deep breath.

"Friends?" she asked and raised her hand. Jake looked at it and gave it a firm shake.

"Friends" he said and a smile spread across his lips, while a spark lit up his eyes as he looked into hers.

"And maybe, once this case is over, we should take some time to talk about… _everything_ " she said.

"Yeah. Yeah that would be good" he agreed and Amy felt something like hope well in her chest.

* * *

 **AN** : Here's Chapter 5 after a few days away. I hope the case is at least a little interesting. It's super hard! Chapter 6 is going to have some pretty intense developments so stay tuned for that.

Am I the only one who has that weird biological clock thing? Like, I'll see a cute kid and then my body will be all "WE NEED A BABY IN US NOW" and I just randomly want one? Even though I'm 24 and I probs don't want a kid for like 10 years. But it's legit a thing. A scary, scary thing.

Speaking of kids, I saw that someone on Tumblr did this cute fancast of Amy and Jake's kids and they named one of them Leo Robert Peralta. His middle name was Robert because that was Amy's father's name in this fic. I saw that and thought it was so cool! Haha I'm basically just a huge nerd who's very, very flattered anybody reads the weird shit I write so thanks for that!

Thank you guys so much for reading! I appreciate it so, so, so much. Please, let me know what you think and if you want to hang with me on tumblr, my new handle is talking-bird-jessie. Come say hiiiiii.


	6. Jack-in-the-Box - Jake

**Chapter 6: Jack-in-the-Box – Jake**

The NYPD computer on Jake's desk was beginning to make his eyes water. He looked at the clock in the corner and realized he'd been looking for leads for three hours. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He had found nothing, other than a couple of people they could question. He sighed and then looked at his partner across from him. Amy was working furiously and taking notes from whatever she was reading on the screen. She suddenly looked up at him with a determined expression. Jake was startled that she had caught him staring at her, but she was uninterested in that.

"Jake! Look at this" she said, beckoning him to her computer. He jumped up quickly and stood behind her chair.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Okay, so I was doing some research on John-in-the-Box and for the past two months they've been filing reports of burglary. Guess what's been stolen?" she asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Tell me before I figure it out" he said, seeing how much she wanted to tell him.

"Materials! Wood, cogs, paints, everything that the perp would need to make his sets. It's the perp, I know it. Here's the best part: they haven't caught the thief even though they've installed cameras and an alarm system which means-"

"The thief is someone they know!" Jake finished.

"The thief is someone they know" Amy agreed, her eyes on fire from the discovery. Jake looked at her, his eyes wide and his mouth agape.

"Amy. Santiago" He said, staring.

"Yes?" she asked innocently.

"I take back everything I ever said about you being a bad detective. You're a damn _great_ detective and don't you forget it!" Jake said, already grabbing his jacket to follow the lead.

"Oh, I won't" she said, putting on her blazer.

"This could be our break, Amy. Okay, so I got ahold of Anita Hampton's mother and she's gonna be here in like fifteen minutes. So, one of us is going to have to stay here and question her and one of us should go back to John-in-the-Box— I call dibs on John-in-the-box no takesy-backsies!" Jake said as he grabbed his car keys.

"What?! No! I was the one who figured it out!" Amy protested with a scowl on her face.

"No takesy-backsies!" Jake reiterated and shuffled out of the bullpen before Amy could protest further.

* * *

Getting to John-in-the-Box was one of the worst drives of Jake's life. Traffic was awful and he was anxious to question the toy maker. He worried it might be a little awkward coming back as a cop, but he figured " _Eh, good ol' John will get over it_ "

As Jake sat in stop-and-go traffic he remembered his discussion with Amy earlier. He thought of the confession he almost made and the way she looked when she said she wanted to talk about " _everything_ ". " _Everything_ " was…hefty, to say the least. The prospect of this future conversation scared him, yet thrilled him. He worried over every bad scenario, but a part of him felt relief at the idea of telling her exactly how he felt about her. It was starting to be too much to just keep to himself.

Jake sighed and cursed the traffic. He cursed all the quiet moments that inevitably took his thoughts back to Amy and made his stomach turn. Those moments seemed to arrive with increasing frequency.

A jolt of excitement went through Jake as he pulled up to the toy store. He was going to ask John how many people had access to the alarms and how many people would know how to get around them. He smirked at the thought. He was sure this was going to give them the suspect pool they've been needing.

Jake was about to exit the car when he got a call from Amy, which he quickly answered.

"Hey Ames, I just got to the toy store. What's up?" he asked.

"Hey, just wanted to let you know what Anita's mom said" Amy said and Jake detected some bitterness.

"What ya got for me?"

"Not much. Last time she saw Anita was at a cousin's funeral. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and she didn't have any enemies that the mother was aware of" Amy said. Jake sighed. There _had_ to be something connecting the victims.

Jake looked at the street ahead of him. He took in the shops: the toy store, the empanada place, the flower shop—

" _The flower shop?!_ " Jake thought with a realization hitting him like a ton of bricks.

"Holy crap" he whispered. His mind worked slowly as he began fitting the puzzle pieces together.

"Jake? _Jake?_ " Amy asked through the phone.

"Amy! Did Anita's mom mention anything about Anita bringing flowers to the funeral?" Jake asked, adrenaline making his heart beat faster.

"Um, she didn't say anything specifically. I could call and ask. Jake, what is it?" Amy asked. Jake knew she could hear the edge in his voice.

"Amy, what was the last thing that Preston Vice did before he was taken?" he asked.

"He went on a date" she said simply.

"And brought Anna _flowers_ and then Kelly went to a recital—"

"And brought Kayla _flowers_!" Amy gasped.

"Amy, there's a flower shop across the street from John-in-the-Box!" Jake said with blood pounding in his ears.

"Oh my god, Jake! That makes sense! The murder weapon was a _flower_. Wait, hold on. Don't go anywhere" She said and Jake could hear her fingers type away at a keyboard.

"Jake! Jake! Jake!" She said with gasps on her breath.

"What? What? What?"

"Jake, the flower shop owner? It's John's _son_ , Archie"

"Ames. _That's our guy_ " Jake said, absolutely certain.

"Don't get too excited, Peralta. All we have is circumstantial evidence. This guy has covered his tracks. I'll start on getting us a warrant to search his place of residence and the flower shop" Amy said, always being the Scully to his Mulder.

"Sounds good, Ames. I'm going to go to the shop and scope him out" Jake said as he started exiting the car.

"Wait, Jake, maybe you should wait for me" Amy said, a touch of worry in her tone. He laughed and continued walking down the street.

"I'll be fine. I'm going to be in-and-out in five minutes. Hey, what's your favorite flower? I'll get you something nice" Jake said with a smile.

"I'm partial to daisies" she said and Jake could practically hear her smile.

"Daisies it is. Alright, I'm outside the shop now. Talk to you later"

"Okay, call me when you're back in the car"

"That's a big 10-4. Bye" he said.

"Bye" She replied and hung-up.

Jake looked at the flower shop and inspected the outside. It was well kept, but small. There were big cursive letters on the sign above the door that said " _Archie's Arrangements_ ". Buckets of flowers of every color lined the entrance and it made the air smell like perfume. Jake opened the door, a bell ringing as he came in, and saw that the shop was empty. He looked around for an employee until he saw a bell on the desk. He went over to it and tapped it quickly.

Seconds later, a man came through the back door. He was tall and strong looking with dark, black hair and even blacker eyes. He smiled as he saw Jake, but the smiled never reached his eyes. Jake instantly got a bad feeling.

"Afternoon sir, how can I help you?" the man asked.

"I was actually wondering if I could get some help with an arrangement" Jake said, going back into undercover mode.

"Of course. What's the occasion?" he asked.

"Well, I'm trying to impress a very special lady" Jake said with a smile.

"I should have guessed" he said with a knowing smile.

"So, are you the Archie fella I heard all about on that sign outside?" Jake asked as the man stepped from behind the desk and grabbed a flower bag.

"That's me. Flower arranger extraordinaire. What about you? What do you do?" Archie asked and a whistle went off in Jake's mind. He immediately came up with an alter ego.

"Oh, well, I'm a stand-up comedian. I'm from a small town in Nevada and decided to come to New York to follow the dream"

"A _comedian_ , huh? Wow. Must be exciting. Alright, so any flowers you want in the bouquet specially?" Archie asked.

"Daisies. She likes Daisies" Jake said, an unwarranted smile creeping on his face.

"Ah, who doesn't?" Archie asked as he started grabbing flowers and plants from around the shop. In a matter of minutes, he had made a pretty impressive bouquet. Jake was really only planning on getting three daisies tied with a bow or something, not a full-on smorgasbord of flowers. He briefly worried at the stares he'd get if he came into the precinct with it and presented it to Amy.

"Wow, this is something" Jake said as he grabbed the bouquet from Archie.

"Glad you like it" Archie said as he went to his register.

"What do I owe you?"

"59.99" Archie said and a pit formed in Jake's stomach. Still, he pulled out his wallet and handed Archie his debit card, if not a little reluctantly.

"What a deal" he said, kissing sixty bucks goodbye. Archie handed Jake back his card and was about to leave when Archie stopped him.

"Oh! You know what? I forgot to add a ribbon around it and get a card for you! Stay right there" Archie said as he disappeared into the back.

Jake thought about this man as a killer. He seemed pretty normal, but the evidence was stacking against him and he _had_ asked about Jake's profession.

Archie came back quickly with a red ribbon, card, and card holder. He came around the desk and started putting the ribbon the bouquet. He put the card in the card holder and in the center of the flowers, right next to a dahlia.

"Thanks, man. Have a good day!" Jake said as he turned to leave the shop. He was stopped short, however, by a large force of pressure around his neck. Almost as quickly, he realized a rag was covering his nose and mouth. It took Jake a second to understand, but he was being attacked. He thrashed and tried to pull the arm that latched onto his throat, but his body grew weak quickly. His eyesight began to blur and panic set in. Jake tried to use the back of his head to hit his attacker, but he never landed a hit. He felt his knees cave in as he breathed in more cyanide and his body grew numb.

And then: darkness.

* * *

For a long time, there was only darkness. Jake had no sense of where he was or what had happened to him. He was just there in the endless black, a complete absence of light.

When he did stir, he was confused about where and who he was. He realized that his hands and feet were tied first and as his eyes began to focus, he made out that he was in a large, half-built building. The floor was cold, unforgiving cement and he was surrounded by metal shelves. He figured out he was in a warehouse.

As his clarity expanded, so did his memory. He had been attacked by the flower shop owner, the Toy Box Killer. At the thought of the killer, Jake suddenly realized the situation.

" _He's going to kill me_ " Jake realized in horror. That's when he saw it. A huge box with intricate designs on each side stood in the corner. The box was open and a gigantic spring came spilling out the top. Jake noticed one of the sides' even had a handle. It was a Jack-in-the-Box. Another terror-filled realization struck him: it wasn't just a Jack-in-the-box, it was his _tomb_. Jake felt his breaths get shorter as he began panicking.

"Oh god oh god oh my god oh god" he said under his breath.

" _Calm down, Jake. If we're crafty we can get out of this_ " he thought to himself and he made an effort to slow his breathing. He counted each inhale and exhale at four seconds and it helped.

As Jake looked around to find something to cut himself free, a loud clang of something metal hitting the cement floor filled the room.

" _Dammit_ " mumbled a figure that came around from behind the Jack-in-the-box. It was Archie, picking up a metal piece that had fallen from the box.

" _He must still be building the set_ " Jake thought. Jake's eyes got wide once more as he started understanding Archie's plan.

" _The only reason he hasn't killed me yet is because he hasn't finished making the set_ " Jake thought.

It was only a matter of time.

* * *

 **AN:** Thus ends chapter 6! What will poor old Jakey do? Guess you'll have to see next time! I'm really excited to work on the next few chapters.

So 10-4 is radio code for "yes, I understand your message" so Jake was basically just playing around. When I worked at aquarium we would always joke on the radio and say stuff like "Oh, yeah that's a BIG 10-4" so that was just a little homage to that.

Thanks so much for reading and for your comments! Those always really help me get chapters out quickly so thanks so much!


	7. Hot Wheels

**AN:** Just a heads up, this chapter does have some minor violence and torture. It's not too graphic or prolonged, but just so you know.

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Hot Wheels**

 _ **Amy – 17:03**_

" _Hey, you've reached the incredible Detective Jake Peralta, but my phone is probably dead so please leave your name and number after the beeeeEEEEEP noise, and I'll get back to you"_

Thirty minutes. It had been thirty minutes since Jake and Amy talked. Thirty minutes since he said he'd call her back in five. Seven calls, three voicemail messages later and Amy knew something was wrong. She felt it, she sensed it. She couldn't chalk this up to typical-Peralta-irresponsibleness. It was off. Amy bit her thumbnail and decided it was time to look for him.

She grabbed her keys and headed out of the bullpen. A horrible weight crushed her chest and she had to remind herself to breathe. There were hundreds of reasons why he hadn't answered her. _Hell_ , his phone _could_ be dead, for all she knew.

And yet, she didn't believe that. Something was wrong. She got to her car quickly and didn't bother to fiddle with the radio as she backed out of her spot.

Traffic was, predictably, horrendous. Amy kept reminding herself that she needed breathe.

" _You don't know anything, Amy. You don't know_ anything" she told herself. She kept imagining Jake at a flower shop with dark figure attacking him and forcing him to eat hemlock. She shivered. She _knew_ he shouldn't have gone in alone. He should have waited for her. The warrants didn't even take long to get! She was lucky enough to find Judge Kelling who was on board in five minutes. Why couldn't he just be _patient_?

" _You're not much better_ " she thought, as she drove to the flower shop on her own, without telling anyone. She made sure to send Rosa a quick text message at a red light and considered herself slightly more responsible.

When she finally arrived at the flower shop her heart sank. Jake's car was still parked on the street and he wasn't in it. She wasted no time getting to the front door, which was mercifully unlocked. She held her gun out and assessed the small corner shop. She cleared the main floor and went behind the counter. A hallway lead to the back room, which was full of flower cutting tools, ribbons, cards, and card holders. On the left hand side of the room was another door. Amy approached it, but found it locked. She breached the door with one solid, strong kick and it flung open. Amy briefly thought how jealous Jake would be.

The door led a set of wooden stairs that went to what Amy presumed to be a creepy basement.

" _Perfect_ " she thought and pulled out her flashlight. She crossed her flashlight hand over the one that held her gun and cautiously walked down the stairs. Pipes leaked and stairs squeaked as she stepped on them. A horrible chill traversed through her bones and dread circulated her veins.

The basement was small and overwhelmingly smelled of flowers. It made Amy's sinus' swell and her head ache. She continued on and made sure the room was clear. When she was sure she was alone, she put away her firearm and examined the room in more detail. It was mostly empty except for clumps of dead, cut-up plant stems and a small work station in the corner. Amy approached the work station that consisted of a desk and cork board. The cork board was covered by a map of Brooklyn that was peppered with little red-sharpie circle marks. She pointed her flashlight on the desk. There were several pieces of paper that were rolled up with a rubber band. Amy picked one up and smoothed it out on the desk. It was a crude drawing with measurements and faded straight lines. She took a closer look and saw that it was a ballerina on a device. Amy recognized it as a blue print.

Her heart rate increased as she opened the others and found layouts for the G.I. Joe set and the Barbie Doll house. She looked back at the map and the red circles. She studied the locations that each one indicated. There were four in total and three of them were the installation locations. Amy examined the fourth circle.

Three victims. Four circles. One more victim waiting to be found. Amy took in a sharp inhale of breath as the weight of the information hit her.

Jake was circle number four.

* * *

 _ **Jake – 17:47**_

Jake watched on as Archie painted delicate and intricate designs on either side of the box. Jake was amazed at his speed. He painted so quickly, yet his canvas was beautiful and without blemishes. The more paint that covered the box, the higher Jake's heart rate went up. Archie would poison Jake as soon as he finished building the box.

Jake had tried to find a sharp object to help him cut the ropes binding him, but found none. He was weary to move around too much because Archie hadn't seemed to notice Jake was awake yet. As Archie worked, Jake looked around desperately for something that could help him, but he was coming up blank.

He debated on trying to knock down one of the metal structures next to him. It was a gamble, but maybe he could knock it down while Archie was next to it. Jake shook his head. Even to him, it sounded insane and the odds of that working were beyond slim.

He continued to brainstorm a plan, but he stopped dead when he saw Archie approach him. As he got closer, Jake realized Archie was smiling at him.

"Oh, you're awake, Jacob. I'm sorry I've been ignoring you. Once I enter my 'higher self', it's hard for me to come back down to my 'social mask'" He said kindly, pleasantly even. He sat down next to Jake and sighed, "You know, Jacob, I really don't like liars"

"Um, me neither" Jake said, confused and afraid of where this was going.

"Really? Could have fooled me. Jacob, you _lied_ to me" Archie said.

"When?" Jake asked, struggling to keep his voice even.

"You told me you were a comedian, Jacob. According to your badge, you're NYPD" Archie said as he pulled out Jake's badge. Jake cursed himself for not noticing he was without his gun, badge, and wallet.

"Oh, well that's my day job. My real passion is comedy" Jake said quickly. Archie smiled and nodded.

"Your _day job_. I see. That makes sense" Archie said and he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a Ziploc bag with some leaves inside. Jake's eyes widened and his body tried to back away.

"Wait-" Jake started.

"Why are you scared, Jacob? It's just a bag of leaves" Archie said as he opened the bag. Jake stared on with big eyes.

"Um, well, y'know, you've kind of got me tied up and I guess I'm just weary of anything you pull out of your pocket" Jake said, his voice giving him away. Archie nodded again and stood up. He disappeared around a corner and came back a moment later with a metal pipe. Archie loomed over Jake and Jake felt fear in his chest.

"Jacob, remember how I said I don't like liars?" Archie asked. Then, with as much force as he could muster, Archie cracked the metal pipe against Jake's thigh. Pain like a hurricane crashed through Jake's leg and he let out an anguished cry.

"Yeah, I wasn't lying about that. Listen to me, Jacob. You see that structure? It's going to be a Jack-in-the-Box. And guess what? You're the Jack. See, what I'm going to do is fasten you to that spring, so the only part of your body that will be showing is your torso. What I'm trying to say, Jacob, is that I don't give two shits about your lower half. What's going to happen is you're going to be _real_ cooperative with me, or I'm going to _hurt_ you" Archie said, his eyes boring into Jake's. Jake's mouth went dry and a fear that he had never felt before made him shake. He nodded.

"Good job, Jacob. Now," Archie said, pulling out the bag with leaves once more, "you're going to eat these, aren't you?"

Jake's eyes widened, but he willed himself to stay still. He knew Archie would have to feed the leaves to him and that's when Jake would strike. Jake Peralta would be _damned_ if he wasn't going to at least put up a fight.

He nodded again for Archie's benefit. Archie smiled and grabbed a couple of leaves from the bag. He took Jake's jaw and offered the leaves to him in between his fingers. Jake waited until Archie's hand got as close to his mouth as possible. When it seemed that Archie would go no further, adrenaline pumped through Jake and he lunged at the killer. Jake bit down on the first piece of flesh he could find and clamped down as hard as he could. He began shaking his head like a rabid dog to cut the man even deeper.

"AAUGGGH!" Archie cried, but still, Jake held on. Archie grabbed the metal pole and jammed one side of it directly between Jake's legs. The searing pain was unbearable and his teeth left Archie's flesh. Archie capitalized on the opportunity and shoved a huge handful of leaves into Jake's mouth before he could respond. Archie's hands clamped down on Jake's jaw and covered his nose. Jake tried to keep the leaves in his mouth, but his body started panicking from the lack of oxygen. He swallowed the leaves and Archie let him go. Jake began coughing violently, but it was done.

Archie stood up and spat at Jake. Jake looked at the damage he had caused. Archie's thumb was a mass of red and Jake congratulated himself on at least making sure he'd need stitches. Archie cradled his hand and glowered at Jake.

"You're _dead_ , Peralta. I shoved about twelve leaves down your throat. You'll be dead in a couple hours. You probably have about thirty minutes before your legs go numb, so you better tell me _exactly_ what the NYPD knows about me or your legs are _piñatas_. You hear me?!" Archie asked, losing the calm composure he once had.

"They'll know you're the son of the toy maker across the street and they'll probably link you to the robberies. They know you're using Hemlock to murder your victims. It will take some time for them to put two and two together though, because I haven't shared my findings with anyone, but I have notes. They'll find them" Jake said. He used as much truth as he could so that Archie wouldn't pick up on his lie about working alone. Amy was his only chance now. If she didn't find him soon, he was done for.

Jake didn't really expect her to come in time though. He just didn't want Archie to plan on someone coming. Archie had Jake's gun and he could get Amy if he got the upper hand on her.

"That's it?" Archie said, threatening Jake with the pipe.

"That's it. I've talked to some family members of your victims, but none of them knew anything. I came to check you out on a hunch" Jake said. He looked at Archie in the eyes for a long second, but Archie relaxed and put down the pipe. Jake exhaled a breath he had been keeping in.

"Alright, Jacob, alright. You're lucky I'm not a cruel man. I _should_ cut off your balls for what you did to my painting hand, but you'll be dead soon, so I'm satisfied" Archie said. He walked back to the structure and started wrapping his thumb.

With Archie gone, all of Jacob's strength left him.

" _I'm going to die_ " he thought and a pain worse than any pain a metal pipe could inflict ripped through him. It wasn't fair. He wasn't _done_ yet. He still needed to catch so many more bad guys, he needed to get married, be a dad. He needed to be there for when Charles _actually_ got married, he needed Rosa to help him catch the Pontiac Bandit, he needed to see Terry's son—Jake's _godson_. He needed to beat Holt at their next Halloween showdown, but more than that, he needed to tell him how much the captain's leadership meant to him. Holt needed to know that he was more than just a boss to Jake. Gina…he just needed to see what crazy thing would happen in her life next. He knew she was destined for greatness, but he wasn't sure how. He wanted to be there for it.

And then, _dammit_ , there was Amy. Images of his partner and the knowledge he'd never see her again flooded him. _He was never going to see Amy again_. The last time he saw her, he ran out of the bullpen and stole a lead she had found. He couldn't feel guilty about that, though. If he had let her go, it might be her in this position. No, this was better. The world needed Amy Santiago a lot more than it needed Jake Peralta. Of that, he was certain.

He thought about the two times they had kissed. He tried to reimagine the way her lips felt on his, how his skin lit on fire from her touch. Another wave of pain hit his chest as he realized he spent the last three months avoiding her. Regret crashed over him like cold water. That was three months he could have spent with her, talked with her, kissed her, made love to her, and cherished her. But no, he had to put the _job_ first. Hell, it wasn't even about the job. He didn't want to admit it, but the ticking clock made him face it.

He was scared of loving Amy. He was scared of loving her because she could hurt him beyond repair if she left. The kind of power she held over him would leave him weak. She would make him so vulnerable to pain that it paralyzed him with fear.

Jake cursed himself. Maybe if he wasn't such a coward, he could allow himself to be happy. What was worse was that he had hurt Amy because of his cowardice. She had opened her heart to him and he cast it aside.

He never even told her he was in love with her. He never said it. She would live without ever hearing it. Tears prickled his eyes and he saw no reason to inhibit their fall. If he could only just say it to her, he could die in peace. He breathed in and exhaled, a tear trailing down his cheek.

" _I should make peace_ " he thought. He thought of prayers for the last moments of life. He wasn't great at remembering those kinds of things, but when his grandfather was in the hospital there was prayer the Rabbi had said that Jake recalled. The memory floated back to him easily and the words came to him:

 _A Song of Ascents.  
I lift my eyes to the mountains - from where will my help come?  
My help will come from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth.  
He will not let your foot falter; your guardian does not slumber.  
Indeed, the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.  
The Lord is your guardian; the Lord is your protective shade at your right hand.  
The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.  
The Lord will guard you from all evil; He will guard your soul.  
The Lord will guard your going and your coming from now and for all time._

Jake remembered the prayer in Hebrew and it took him a couple of minutes to remember the translation, but he managed. Jake wasn't terribly religious, but the words gave him a small form of comfort. It was like tying up a loose end, of sorts. He wasn't a very good Jew, but at least he had done this and, hey, he wouldn't mind a guardian for his soul.

Jake let his head lie back on the cold cement. He felt an odd tingling near his feet and realized the paralysis was starting. He said goodbye to walking and closed his eyes. If he only had a couple hours left, he wanted to use them thinking of the one person that mattered the most.

* * *

 _ **Amy – 18:16**_

Amy cursed herself for not grabbing a police issued vehicle from the precinct. Traffic had cut down considerably, but every second she was stuck on the road, the closer Jake was to a death salad. Amy sped through as much as she could, but without lights and a siren she felt like she was going two miles per hour.

She realized she was probably going to need back up, so she grabbed her phone with a shaking hand and told Siri to call Captain Holt. Siri complied and her phone rang.

" _This is Holt_ " the Captain said.

"Captain! This is Santiago. Sir, I have sufficient evidence to believe Peralta's been—Peralta's been—" she started, but her voice began cracking.

" _Peralta's been what, Detective?_ " Holt asked, not unkindly.

"He's been taken by the Toy Box Killer, sir" she said, voice wavering.

" _Santiago, are you sure?_ "

"Yes, sir. I found a basement with a map to where he was taking his victims. I have the address of where I believe Peralta is. I believe the perp is planning to use Peralta for his next installation. Sir, I request back up, but I won't be able to wait for it" Amy said, her voice evening out again.

" _What do you mean you can't wait for back up?_ " Holt asked.

"Sir, I'm almost at the site and if Jake has been fed the poison that the perp uses, well, every minute will count. I'll have to take immediate action" she said.

" _I can't let you go in without back up, Amy"_ Holt said and Amy swore she heard sympathy.

"With all due respect sir, you can't stop me" Amy said and Holt went silent.

" _Be careful. I'm sending all available units to you and an ambulance. We'll be there soon_ " he said.

"Thank you, sir" Amy said and she blinked back tears again. She gave him the address and thanked him once again. Holt reiterated that she needed to be careful and hung up.

Amy took a right onto the street where the warehouse was. She saw it at the end of the block and she turned off her car lights. She drove onto a drive-way and parked on the curb. She got out of the car immediately and took her gun out of its holster. Lights illuminated the second story and she crept alongside the corners to find a way in the building. She found one on the north wall and opened the door slowly.

The first floor was dark and dusty so she brought out her flashlight. The walls were narrow and she felt as if they were caving in on her. She continued on, being careful not to make any noise as she walked amongst the debris. After a few twists and turns she found a staircase. She made her way up it and as she did, she heard a voice.

" _You know, Jacob? You're actually really lucky. You'll be immortalized within my art. Humans—they live, they die, but you, ha, you will be remembered for a long time. They'll hang pictures of you in museums and you'll be all over the news. Immortal_ " the voice said and Amy almost gasped at the mention of Jake's full name. He _was_ here.

She reached the top of the stairs and was greeted by a wall of wood paneling. There were gaps in the paneling and she looked through them.

The floor was large and open, but had a gigantic box with a spring in the corner. By the box was a man painting it.

" _That's him. The killer_ " she thought and she put her finger on the trigger of her gun. She scanned the area further and saw a mass on the other side of the room.

" _Jake!_ " she realized. His hands were tied behind his back and his ankles were tied as well. For one horrible, horrible moment, she thought he was already dead because he didn't moved and his eyes were shut, but as the perp began speaking again, Jake opened his eyes.

"Jacob, you're awfully quiet, what's wrong?"

Jake stared on in silence. Amy watched the man, Archie, as he put down his paints. He grabbed something on a table and started walking towards Jake. Amy looked at the object in his hand and saw that it was a gun. She sneaked over to end of the wood paneling in order to take the shot she needed.

"Aww, Jacob. Don't be mad. You'll be _immortal_. It's an honor really. Look, you won't have to suffer long. See, I was thinking about it and I think the hemlock isn't a good idea for you, since the NYPD knows about it and all. Maybe a bullet wound will shake them off the trail for a little bit. I hate to break your skin, but your chest will be covered by the costume, so it'll be okay. I'll clean the blood real well so it doesn't mess up the installation. Don't worry" Archie said and he lifted the gun.

Amy reacted instantly, but she felt like everything was happening in slow motion. She turned out from behind the wood paneling and aimed her shot. She pressed her finger against the trigger and she watched the bullet travel, saw the gun in Archie's hand raise to Jake's chest, then watched the bullet dig into the Toy Box Killer's skull. His eyes widened at the impact, but his body began to fall. He fell alongside Jake, dead.

The slow motion wore off and the world seemed to kick into hyper speed.

"Jake! Jake!" She yelled as she ran to him. She dropped to her knees and grabbed his cheeks.

"Amy…" he said, his eyes looking at her like she was an angel or ghost.

"Jake, did he give you the hemlock?!" Amy said and she could hear the sirens outside. She untied his hands.

"Amy, is that really you?" he asked and his hand lifted up to stoke her cheek gently. She held it.

" _Jake_ , listen to me, _did he give you the hemlock_?" she asked, desperate for an answer. Her heart was pounding so hard, she thought it might explode.

"Amy…" he said, his eyes full of sadness and confirmation.

And she knew.

* * *

 **AN:** Don't want to say too much for this one, but I hoped you enjoyed it. Two more chapters are coming.

So the title in front of each section uses military time. In chronological order: 5:03pm, 5:47pm, 6:16pm

The prayer Jake remembers is a real prayer, but it usually would be done in Hebrew. I thought it would be more accessible if I gave you a translated version, so I hope that made sense. I'm a Jew myself, but I'm a bad Jew, so I apologize for any inaccuracies. Let me know and I'll fix them.

Thank you so much for reading and for your kind comments. You're all very lovely.


	8. Operation - Amy

**Chapter 8: Operation – Amy**

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no, _Jake_ , no" Amy said, still clutching the hand that caressed her cheek. Her face contorted and a sob escaped her. This wasn't happening. Jake _wasn't_ dying.

"Amy, listen-"

"Jake, an ambulance is coming for you right now. You're going to be okay, okay?" she said and unsolicited tears decorated her eyes.

"Amy, I can't feel my legs" Jake said—calm and simple. Amy felt herself sink like she was falling through the sky. She clutched him more fiercely.

"You listen to me, Jacob Peralta. Don't you _dare_ go all 'I've accepted death' on me. You're going to get to the hospital and they're going to make you _better_ " she said with her voice shaking and her cheeks wet.

Then Jake looked at her with such tenderness, it made her want to cry even harder.

"I really need to tell you something" he said, but was interrupted by the sound of a door crashing down. Police voices traveled to Amy's ears and she never heard something so sweet. She turned away from Jake and towards the visitors.

"WE'RE UP HERE! I NEED AN EMT QUICK!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. She was rewarded by a parade of NYPD vests and guns. A couple of EMTs with an orange backboard rushed to her. They invaded the space around Jake and began checking his vitals. Amy was forced to separate from him. She hastily tried to explain that he was poisoned by hemlock when a pair of strong hands gripped her from the back. She turned around and saw Terry looking at her with sympathetic eyes.

"It's okay, Amy. They've got him. You did it" he said with all the kindness in the world. It wasn't good enough. The EMTs began taking Jake away on the backboard and some sort of strong force pulled her towards him.

"I-I have to go with him" Amy said, trying to follow them. Terry's strong hand grasped hers and made her stop.

"Wait, Santiago. Maybe you should stay with me"

"Sarge, I can't! He'll be alone! I can't—"

"The Captain wants to go with him and you need a breather. Come on, you can ride with me" Terry said and he began following the EMTs. Amy stayed on his heels and passed a blur of cops assessing the scene.

When they reached the outside, Jake was being put in an ambulance and Holt was climbing in with him. Amy felt her heart beat and realized it was beating dangerously fast. She hated that she wasn't going with him.

"We'll take my car. Let's go" Terry said. Amy continued to stare at the ambulance until Terry called out to her. The sound of her name shook her out of her trance and she quickly followed Terry to his police-issued vehicle. They shuffled into the car which followed the lights and buzz of the ambulance Jake was in. Terry put on his sirens as well and stayed up to speed with the ambulance as they weaved through the streets.

Given the chance to sit down, horrible thoughts invaded Amy's mind. The paralysis had already hit his legs. How much longer until it hit his respiratory system? His heart? Anxiety and panic attacked her like a lion that hadn't been fed in four days. Her breath got shallow and her chest exploded with pain.

"Santiago? _Santiago_! You gotta calm down, okay? Breathe! In-2-3-4 and out-2-3-4" Terry prompted. She nodded and did her best to follow directions. It helped. She was able to get air into her lungs and the ripping pain in her chest reduced itself to a dull ache.

"Thanks" she mumbled and looked out the passenger seat window. This was a nightmare. She couldn't imagine feeling worse than this, but she knew it existed if the unthinkable were to happen.

"He'll be okay" Terry said in a kind voice. Amy looked at him and her eyes glossed over with tears once again. She looked down at her hands.

"What if he's not?" she said in a voice so soft it was almost a whisper. The car was silent with the exception of sirens for a very long time.

"You're underestimating him" Terry said, finally.

"What?" Amy asked.

"You're underestimating him. Jake's going to put away this poison just like he puts away bad guys. Plus, he owes me way too much money to die now. Terry always gets what's owed to him" Terry said and it actually made Amy smile.

* * *

The ambulance pulled into the ER roundabout and Terry was close behind it. As Terry parked, Amy watched the EMTs bring Jake out on a gurney and roll him inside. She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and half-jumped out of the car. She ran to the emergency entrance, desperate to be close to Jake. Amy went through the automatic doors and down the hall. She soon ran into Holt who was walking towards her from the opposite direction.

"Santiago" he said, surprised to see her.

"Captain, is he okay?" she asked. Her throat suddenly got very dry and it was hard to swallow.

"Peralta is in the hospital's care. They assured me they would keep us updated on his progress" Holt said and he gave her a supportive pat on her shoulder. That action would have been cause for a party any other day, but not today.

"That's all?" she asked with pleading eyes.

"Yes. We should go to the waiting room" Holt said and Amy nodded. Terry met them in the hallway and they silently walked to the waiting room together.

The waiting room filled her with a dread that seeped it her bones. The room was covered in tacky 90's décor and even tackier upholstery. Everything was in hideous pastels and blinding whites. Not to mention the smell that lingered in the air, which could only be described as piss and 409. She wanted to run out of the room, but her feet anchored her there. She decided to sit with her elbows on her thighs and her gaze on her shoes.

A TV was on. It entertained itself though, because not a single person indulged in it. Amy took in a deep breath and almost felt guilty about it. Jake was probably having a hard time breathing right now. She wished she could ration her breaths. She had too many today, why not give them to Jake? She looked down at her watch. Only two minutes had passed. How was that possible? She already felt like years had gone by.

Amy tried to focus on something else. She looked around at the people in the waiting room with her. They all looked like they were waiting on bad news. She must have looked like that too. There was no comfort in a waiting room and they all felt it.

As the minutes ticked by, more of the nine-nine filtered in. Boyle came in first, talking too much and in a panic. Terry did his best to calm him. Gina came in next, looking far more serious than Amy had ever seen her. She wouldn't look at her phone for minutes at a time and kept playing with her hands. Scully and Hitchcock shuffled in, but were both quiet.

Rosa was the last to arrive. She came in, looking how she normally did and sat down next to Amy.

"Hey" she said. Her voice was as direct as always. Amy nearly smiled.

"Hey" Amy replied.

"This sucks" Rosa said and she crossed her arms.

"Yeah"

Silence engulfed the room once more.

"You're an idiot. You're both idiots" Rosa said. Amy looked at her like she was insane.

" _Excuse_ me?"

"You heard me," Rosa said, standing up, "You're an idiot. So is Jake. If you don't both get your acts together after this, I'm gonna beat the stupid out of you"

Rosa walked away and decided to sit next to Boyle, who was sobbing. She aptly punched his arm and told him to stop being a baby.

Amy shook her head.

" _What the hell was that about?_ " she thought and her mind reeled looking for the answer. She had the nagging feeling it might have to do with the non-romantics of her and Jake's relationship. Amy squeezed her fist.

"I'm _not the idiot._ Jake's _the idiot. I tried. I laid it all out on the table and he said 'no', dammit_ " she thought as resentment towards Rosa bubbled up into her throat. Jake and Amy had made plans for a conversation, but Amy wasn't sure that would happen. Not now.

Amy remembered how Jake said he really needed to tell her something. Her heart froze as she thought of the look he gave her when he said that. It was so soft and sweet that she briefly wondered if he was going to kiss her.

" _I wish he would have_ " Amy thought and was immediately surprised by it. She shouldn't be having these thoughts. Not when there's no confirmation he wants her and no confirmation he'll be okay. Still, a voice in the back of her mind was on a rampage. It yelled at her that she was skirting the issue and not admitting the thing that _really_ made her an idiot.

She had done such a good job of suppressing it, of not letting the word come into her consciousness. It was there though. It had been, probably since she first kissed him, but who knows? It didn't matter. Nothing mattered because the simple truth of it was: Amy was in love with Jake.

A wound ripped its way across her chest at the thought. She _was_ an idiot. Over the past three months she had been avoiding the word that hung right in front of her nose because it could only bring her pain. Still, it was three long months of lying to herself. She was in love with that immature idiot and she couldn't pretend she wasn't anymore.

She loved him. And down the hallway, he was dying.

After eons of silent torture in the waiting room, a doctor approached Captain Holt. The entire nine-nine crowded around to hear the news, Amy jumping up quickest.

"Doctor, how is he?" Holt asked and Amy detected the slightest of trembles in his voice.

"He's stable. The poison is working its way through his body and we have him on artificial ventilation, which means he's breathing through a machine. There's no antidote for hemlock so we have to wait until the body flushes the chemicals out. The process could take anywhere from two to three days. So, we'll be monitoring him closely" the doctor said.

"Will he make a full recovery?" Terry asked and Amy's legs felt weak.

"Well, the next 24 hours are crucial. There are complications that could happen with this treatment, but Mr. Peralta is young and strong so I'm very optimistic. If you'd like to visit him, you can. Just please limit it to one person at a time"

The rest of the group mumbled their thanks to the doctor and Boyle followed him to Jake's room.

"So, that was good news, right?" Gina asked, speaking for the first time since she'd been there.

"Real good news" Terry said with a smile and a hand on her shoulder. Small smiles graced everyone's face and for the first time in a very long time, Amy felt light. Jake might not have been out of the woods yet, but if all he needed to do was survive for 24 hours then he'd be seeing open pastures for sure.

After several minutes, Boyle came back and Gina went to visit Jake next. The nine-nine slowly took turns seeing him and then headed home. It wasn't long until the waiting room consisted of only Amy and Captain Holt. Rosa had just seen Jake and told them goodbye before she left for her apartment.

"You go, Captain" Amy said and he didn't argue. Finally, Amy was alone. She took a deep breath in and the action caused her eyes to water. The stress of the day was taking a toll on her and it was hard to make the tears stop.

After a minute or two, the Captain came back down the hallway he had just walked up.

"Santiago, I'll wait for you and take you home" Holt said.

"Thank you" she said and managed a smile.

Amy walked down the hallway that led to Jake's hospital room. The walk made her nervous without warning. She wasn't even sure why she was so nervous, only that she was. She got to the door and her heart skipped a beat when her hand touched the door knob. She opened the door and saw Jake in the center of the room.

She understood why she was nervous. It was terrible seeing Jake in the hospital. He was pale and connected to far too many wires. A device that covered his mouth and nose made him look even sicker. Amy sat down in a chair that was placed next to Jake's bedside and took a deep breath in.

She hated seeing him like this. Jake was supposed to be jumping around making stupid faces and even stupider jokes, not lying in a bed looking like a ghost. He should be in plaid patterns and leather jackets, not in a hospital gown.

Amy studied his face. She noticed how gently his eyelashes graced his skin and, through all the machinery, Amy analyzed his lips. They were paler than they usually were, but she was still drawn to them. Her eyes followed his arm down to his hand. It was the same hand that brushed her cheek at the warehouse. It, too, was covered in wires. This didn't stop her from grabbing it. She held his hand with both of hers and she scooched her chair closer so she could raise it. She gently kissed his knuckles and put his hand down, still holding on.

"So, I know you're probably in John-McClane-Action-Movie-Dreamland right now, but uh, I just want you to know that you really need to get better. Apparently, you have a little _battle_ , you have to fight for the next 24 hours," she said, tears pooling in her eyes, "so you need to be just like John McClane, okay? You can't give up because I have something very important I have to tell you and I need you alive in order to say it so…get better. Get better"

* * *

Holt had given her a week off, but she refused it. There was no way she could handle the next three days cooped up in her apartment with only her thought to keep her company. It was impossible to sleep that first night. It was all tossing-and-turning and "stop crying" mantras. Amy was very adamant that the best thing for her was to keep busy.

Everyone was a little shocked she showed up the following morning, but no one made a comment, at least, not to her. She buried herself under the stacks of paper work she needed to do for the Toy Box Killer case. She spared no detail and spent hours on color coding it. She reminded herself that this _was_ the case of her career, so she needed it to be extra perfect.

When the work day was done she set off to the hospital. She debated on whether or not to get Jake some flowers, but decided it was probably in poor taste. Instead, she got him a mug with hard candies on the inside and a little aluminum balloon hovering above it.

When she arrived at Jake's room, Boyle was already there. The nurses allowed Jake two visitors though and Amy placed her gift next to Boyle's teddy bear.

"Any updates from the doctor?" Amy asked Boyle.

"Yeah, we're a couple hours out from the 24 hour mark and there haven't been any red flags so far. He's doing good!" Boyle said with an optimistic smile. Amy returned it.

"That's great" she said, taking the chair next to Boyle.

"He's going to be fine. A buncha leaves can't keep Jakey down!" Boyle said with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, it's going to take a lot more than that"

* * *

The doctor confirmed that Jake was on his way to a full recovery and Amy had a much easier time falling asleep that night.

On the second day, Amy went out and got herself a couple of easy collars. She was happy Jake was getting stronger, but thinking about him for too long made her anxious.

When she went to visit, Holt was the one who greeted her when she opened the door.

"The nurse told me he's getting stronger every day" Holt said and Amy believed it. Amy felt like she was getting stronger as Jake grew stronger. It was easier and easier for her to smile and the pain in her chest got continuously less severe. That night, she was even able to sleep a full five hours. It was progress.

* * *

During the third day, Amy was helping Rosa with a drug bust. They were looking over surveillance tapes when Boyle ran into the AV room.

"Holt's making an announcement in the bullpen! I think it's about Jakey!" He said with giant grin. Rosa and Amy looked at each other and followed Boyle out to the bullpen.

Holt was standing outside of his office and it seemed the whole precinct had congregated. Excited chatter had erupted amongst the police officers and Holt raised his hands to silence them.

"Everyone, as you know, Detective Peralta has been in hospital battling a poison he was forced to ingest by a dangerous criminal. I just received a call from the hospital and they informed me that he is now breathing on his own and is awake"

The bullpen exploded into loud cheers and Amy found herself cheering with them. She turned to Rosa, who was smiling bigger than Amy had ever seen her, and hugged her. Rosa even hugged her back.

"Hey, can we raincheck on those surveillance tapes? I promise I'll make it up to you" Amy asked and Rosa gave her a knowing look.

"I'll let you off this once" Rosa said, her arms crossed and little smirk appearing on her lips.

"You're the best!" Amy said and quickly grabbed her things, practically skipping out of the bullpen.

She was going to see Jake.

And she had something very important to tell him.

* * *

 **AN:** One chapter left! How will the saga end? I guess you'll just have to stay tuned.

So big brother!Terry is my fav Terry.

A section of this chapter was heavily influenced by "What Sarah Said" by Death Cab for Cutie. Check it out because it's a great song.

Thank you guys soooo much for all your nice comments from the last chapter. I was so overwhelmed, thank you very much!

Haha I was going to put this out like a day and a half ago, but FF was down so uh, here it is now! You won't have to wait long for chapter 9 though!


	9. Paint-by-Numbers - Jake

**Chapter 9: Paint-by-Numbers – Jake**

Jake felt like crap. No, he felt crappier than crap. He felt like crap that had been eaten and then crapped out again. Nobody really prepares you for how your body feels after it's been paralyzed for three days. His arms were like sand bags and his legs were rocks. Sitting up for meals was just as exhausting as running a marathon.

Worse than the uselessness of his limbs, was his boredom. No one was around and the TV had about three channels. Jake hated hospitals and he hated being cooped up in a small room with a bunch of wires coming out of every orifice. He couldn't complain _too_ much though. He was alive. Three days ago he didn't think he would be.

Jake looked over at the "get well soon" gifts that started piling up on his bedside table and smiled. He wouldn't be bored for too long. His friends were coming. Jake looked at the clock and moaned. No one would be getting out of work for another two hours.

Jake sunk deeper into his bed. His mind wandered and he tried to think of all the reasons he was glad to be alive. Amy's face popped into his mind first and he smiled. No more holding back. He wasn't going to deny himself the things he wanted anymore. He'd spend his life with her, if she let him. If not, then Jake would be her partner and enjoy as much time with her as he could. Yes, of course he wanted to kiss and hold her, but he would be grateful just to talk to her and solve cases together with her. If that's all he got, then that's all he got. He wouldn't be ungrateful.

Jake wished she was here. He wanted to indulge in looking at her and talking to her. He wanted to drink her in and keep her all to himself. He felt anxious and restless, desperate to see her.

Then, like divine intervention, there was a knock at his door. Jake would have jumped had his bones not felt like they were filled with cement.

"Come in" he shouted, his heart pounding. He knew it wasn't a nurse or a doctor. Nurses never bothered to knock.

A huge grin he had no control over spread across his face as soon as he saw that his visitor was Amy Santiago. She matched his grin with one just as big and ten times as lovely.

"Hey" she said, beaming at him.

"Hey there!" he replied.

"Can I sit?" she asked, motioning to a chair placed on the left side of his bed.

"Yeah, of course" he said and she promptly put her things down before sitting down next to him.

"Thanks"

"Don't thank me just yet. I have some bad news" Jake said and distress filtered into Amy's eyes.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I kinda lost the flowers I promised you" he said with a faux-guilty face. Amy let out a sound that was half laugh and half sigh.

"You know, and here I was thinking that maybe a near-death experience would help you grow up"

"Never"

"Yeah, that was naïve of me" she said, a smile still dancing on her face.

"Very naïve. If it makes you feel any better, you can take one of the four bouquets Charles got for me"

"Ooh, how kind" she said and Jake realized that this was the easiest conversation they've had since he confessed to her before he went undercover.

"Hey, Amy?" Jake asked.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for getting the bad guy and, y'know, saving my life" he said.

"All in a day's work"

"No, but really, thanks Amy" Jake said and she averted his gaze, but quickly came back.

"You're welcome" She said and a comfortable silence filled the room. Jake held Amy's stare and tried to understand what she was saying with it.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, finally breaking eye contact.

"Oh, you know, other than my body feeling like it's made of anvils, great! The doc says I'll be at full speed in a few days. My legs are going to need a couple days to adjust"

"That's great!" She said and a funny look came over her. Her eyes glossed over and Jake couldn't hide his alarm.

"Amy! What's wrong?" Jake asked. The question made something in Amy snap. She quickly started smiling and wiping her eyes.

"Sorry, I'm really sorry. I just, uh, it looked like we were going to lose you there for a second and I, um—" she said, choking up, "I'm really, really glad you're okay"

"I'm glad I'm okay too," Jake said and they went for another round of 'staring into each other's eyes and smiling' for a couple minutes, "Hey, so did we ever figure out Archie's motive?"

"Oh, that? Yeah, I talked to John and his wife a couple days ago. What happened was that Archie worked for his dad as a toy maker, but he was good, better than his dad. Business was booming and the shop across the street was for rent, so John capitalized on it. He told Archie to run the flower shop, but Archie didn't want to because he loved making toys. His dad didn't care and told him to run the flower shop and they seemed to be all good, but then the mom told me something different. She told me that her son hated his father and would talk about how his dad was just jealous of his talents, stuff like that"

"Whoa, so all the showboating was just to prove something to his old man?" Jake asked.

"Seems like it" Amy confirmed.

"Whoa"

"Yeah, crazy right?"

"Yeah"

"Jake?" Amy asked.

"What's up?"

"You said before that you really needed to tell me something. What was it?" she asked with wide eyes. Jake's heart dropped to his stomach. He wasn't sure he wanted to do this now.

"Can I tell you when I can move my arms and legs? And when I'm wearing real clothes?" Jake asked. Amy nodded.

"That's fair" she agreed, "I want to talk to you about something too"

"Great. We'll wait" Jake said and his heart started fluttering, making him nervous.

"We'll wait" Amy said and the look in her eyes turned the fluttering in Jake's chest into full-on-humming-bird thrumming.

* * *

The rest of the precinct visited Jake over the next couple of days, Boyle most of all. Jake was always happy to see them. Each person was another reminder that he was still alive and another reason to be grateful. Holt even smiled when he visited. It was a momentous day.

Amy visited often, but usually with someone else around. During these visits, it was common for them to accidently lock eyes, but then forget to unlock them. There was a tension building between them that Jake could only chalk up to words left unsaid. The longer he waited to say it, the more anxious he got.

Each day he grew stronger. It took two days to be able to sit up without a nurse's help and three days before he could actually go to the bathroom by himself. By the fourth day he was taking little strolls around the hospital and cracking jokes with the nurses.

On his fifth day, the doctor said Jake could leave in the morning. The first person he called was Amy.

"I'm getting discharged tomorrow" Jake said, excited to tell her the news.

" _What? You are? That's great!_ " she said.

"Yeah! Hey, I was wondering, could you, um, pick me up? Doc doesn't want me driving for at least another week and I didn't exactly drive myself here" he said. There was a short pause.

" _Oh! Yeah, sure. It's my day off tomorrow. What time should I be there?_ " she asked and Jake thought she sounded nervous.

"Like nine in the morning?" he said.

" _Okay, I'll be there_ "

"Sweet! See you tomorrow!"

" _See you tomorrow_ " she said and hung up. Jake placed his phone down and sighed. _Tomorrow_. He was going to have to tell her tomorrow. He couldn't keep it in any more. It wasn't healthy for either of them. Every time he had a moment to himself he mauled over what he should say to her. Nothing ever seemed right. He even tried writing it down, but that made it worse. Part of him just wanted to wing it, like he always did, but the situation was delicate and he didn't want to make a wrong move. He wanted this to work.

He decided to try and get some sleep. Maybe his dreams would help him. Jake decided that planning this too much could ruin the spontaneity anyway. Some sleep could clear his mind.

* * *

His dreams consisted of a talking dog named Pepper who needed to raise money for his parent's laundry business. Suffice to say, his dreams weren't much help.

Jake woke up groggy and no closer to a solution than when he went to sleep. Butterflies filled his stomach as he started changing into the extra set of clothes Boyle brought him. It felt nice to be back in jeans and his leather jacket, but the butterflies were unwelcome. It wasn't fair that he was this nervous, but a small voice in the back of his head told him it was because it mattered. He sighed. He couldn't really disagree with that.

Jake checked out at the front desk and said goodbye to the nurses he knew. When he went outside, Amy's car was pulled in front of the roundabout. She rolled down the window and greeted him with a smile that sent butterflies in his stomach again.

"Hey! Look at you! Walking on your own two feet and everything" she said.

"I know, right? I'm an inspiration to all" he said as he put his overnight bag and a box full of "get well soon" gifts in the back of her car. He opened the passenger-side door, sat down, and buckled his seatbelt.

"Alright, ready to roll" Jake said.

"Your place?" she asked.

"Yeah," Jake said as Amy began driving out of the roundabout, "so how's the nine-nine been without me? Sad? Dull? Lackluster?"

"Productive" she said with a triumphant smirk.

"Isn't that what I said?"

"Boyle misses you," Amy said, but then after a beat, "we all do"

"Aww you _missed_ me" Jake mocked. Amy scrunched her face and shook her head.

"Mm, no. No, I don't think I did"

"You just said 'we all missed you': _we_ including _you_ , Santiago" Jake said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

"I misspoke" she said simply.

"Uh huh"

"I did"

"I believe you"

"Good" she said, but Jake still had on a cheeky smile.

* * *

Amy snagged a parking spot right in front of his building and turned off the engine.

"You want help bringing up your things?" she asked and a wave of nerves rippled through Jake.

"Uh, yes. Yeah, that would be great" He said and he got of the car. He grabbed his box and she grabbed his overnight bag. The walk to his apartment was torture for two reasons: 1. He was on the third floor and stairs were pretty rough on his legs and 2. Every step closer to his apartment was a step closer to his inevitable confession. He knew it was coming. He wasn't going to be able to stop it.

When they reached his door he thought he was going to throw-up on it. He told himself to breathe and to just open the damn door. He was able to open the door even with his hands shaking and he was pleasantly surprised that his apartment wasn't nearly as messy as it could have been. It was still messy, but it was better than normal, so that was something.

"Where do you want this?" Amy asked, holding up the bag. Jake put down the box on his kitchen counter.

"On the couch is fine" Jake said and she complied.

"So…" Amy started and they stood in a long pause. Tension filled his apartment like tear gas, but twice as thick.

"Hey, you want to stay and have some coffee? Or something?" Jake asked.

"Okay" Amy said and nodded. Jake quickly got his coffee maker running. He realized that he was out of clean mugs and hastily washed one in his sink for her. He poured the coffee in her mug and grabbed the creamer out of the fridge. He handed it to her and nearly dropped it because his hands were beginning to shake again. Amy took one look at her coffee and put it down on the counter.

"Jake" she said and his heart beat faster.

"Yeah?"

"I think this might be a good time to talk" she said. Jake mentally prepared himself. This was it. Well… _eyes closed, head first, can't lose_.

"Yeah, yeah. Um, yeah, I should, uh, I should go first" Jake said, having a hard time finding words.

"Okay" she said with expectant eyes.

"Okay, here it goes. _Amy_ , I am an asshole. Um, what I mean to say is that _three months ago_ I was an asshole. Because I said some things about the job and how it would be hard to work with you and yada yada yada. But that wasn't entirely true. The truth was that I was scared. Crazy scared. It started to look like we could be something and I ran away because at some point, I knew you would realize you're way too good for me and I'd never get over you—"

"Jake…"

"No, it's true. I was being a coward and then, to top it all off, I ignored you for three months. It's not like it did any good though because all I did was think about you and steal glances at you when you weren't looking. So, I—I wanted to say I'm sorry. I was a real dick" Jake said, his heart beating at dangerous rates. Amy looked at him and she almost looked disappointed.

"Oh, oh it's okay. I forgive you. Was that what you really needed to tell me?" she asked, searching his eyes.

"Yes. No! No, no there was something else—oh god, okay. Okay, Amy, the thing is—the thing is… _screw it_! Okay, Amy, I'm in love with you and I've been in love with you. I'm starting to realize that I'm not going to live forever and that the time I do have is a big deal. When I think about how I want to spend my time, I think about you and I just want to be with you. My best days are when we work a case together, because Amy, you make me _better_. And I know I've been an idiot and I know I'm kind of a mess, but if you still maybe—"

But he was interrupted by a pair of lips crushing against his. Amy had wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him close to her. Though shocked, Jake responded quickly and placed his hands on her hips, holding her to him. The butterflies in his stomach went into frenzy mode and he swore he saw swirling colors with flashing lights. She put her hands through his hair and shivers went up his spine. Still moving his lips with hers, he reached a hand to her cheek and slowly separated from her.

"Amy, I—"

"I have something to tell you too: You're an idiot," she said and there was nothing Jake could do but smile, "and I'm really in love with you too"

Jake's smile disappeared and he studied her face.

"You are?" he asked.

"Yeah, I am. I want us to be together too. We can figure out the work stuff later. I want to give this a shot" she said and her eyes were full of determination he had only seen in her once before. She loved him back and joy filled him. The only logical thing to do next was kiss her.

This time, adrenaline kicked in, and he picked her up and placed her on the counter. She placed her hands on his cheeks, while his hands found home at her thighs. He kissed her fiercely like it was the last time he would get to. Then, Jake felt a gentle pull at his jacket. He understood the request and quickly began shedding his jacket. Amy responded with fumbling hands unbuttoning her blouse. When she finally removed her shirt, Jake hungrily wrapped his arms around her bare torso, skin touching skin setting him on fire.

Jake took a break from her lip and kissed a trail down her collarbone. Amy let out a little sigh and he rushed back to her lips. Amy's hand began to fumble with his belt buckle and the nervous-excitement pulsing through him made him feel like a seventeen-year-old kid again.

With her successfully undoing his belt, Jake thought he'd try carrying her to the bedroom. When he was just outside of it he pressed her up against the hallway wall with her legs wrapped around his torso.

"Jake…" she said in a breathy whisper and a soft moan escaped him. Amy nibbled on his lip and it made him weak. Really weak, in fact. His arms gave out and Amy's legs slid to the floor, almost making her fall. She caught herself though and Jake cursed himself.

"Oh, _crap_ , I'm sorry. Are you okay? I forgot that I'm still recovering from the whole paralysis thing" he said, getting embarrassed. Amy looked at him and just laughed, which caused them both to succumb to a giggle fit.

"I'll walk from here" she said with a daring smile. She took his hand and began backing into the bedroom, punctuating each step with another kiss. Jake shut the door behind him.

* * *

When Jake woke up he nearly jumped when he realized he had a warm body in his arms. He looked down at the cascade of shiny, black hair and delicate caramel skin, and then was hit by a wall of memories. He was with _Amy_. He had _been_ with Amy. A sound that was a cross between a sigh and a gasp left him.

This caused Amy to look up at him from his chest. A tender, sweet smile illuminated her face. Jake's heart skipped a beat.

"Hey, you slept forever" she teased.

"Sorry, that was most physical activity I've done in a week" he said and she laughed.

"I exhausted you?" she asked

"A little bit" he said and this time, they both laughed, "Hey, so do you want to get dinner tonight?"

"Yeah, sure"

"I should warn you though"

"What?" she asked.

"I don't kiss on the first date. So, no getting fresh, Santiago" he said.

"Shut _up_ " she said and promptly whacked him with a pillow.

* * *

Work the next day was interesting. They had both agreed it would be a good idea to tell the precinct a little later. They'd tell everyone eventually, but Jake and Amy were still figuring themselves out and the inevitable, constant teasing seemed a little overwhelming currently. It was kind of nice having a secret, though.

One of the highlights was the sneaky kisses in the evidence locker room. After one of their more lengthy sessions, Amy had some concerns.

"We should probably stop doing this" she said.

"Not one of your better ideas, if I'm honest" He said before trying to kiss her again.

"No, I'm serious. We could get caught" She said, but smiling despite herself. Jake surrendered and took his hands off her.

"Alright, but you're gonna miss it" he said with an eyebrow raise and a wink.

"I think I'll be okay" she said as she led the way back to the bullpen

If they weren't going to get caught because of their government-funded kisses, they were going to get caught because of Amy's lack of chill. Jake smiled even when he was upset normally, so no one really noticed the happy countenance on his face. Amy, however, was a different story. If they so much as locked eyes, Amy would crack a smile she had no control over. It warmed Jake's heart, but it had the opposite effect on Rosa.

"Santiago. I can hear you grinning from over here. What are you so damn happy about?" Rosa asked, looking up from her paperwork. Amy's face paled and a dumbstruck expression came over it.

"Uh, well, I, uh, checked my credit score today and I just broke 800. I officially have excellent credit" Amy said. Jake wanted so badly to make fun of her for it, but he didn't want to blow her cover.

"Whatever. Knock off the grinning. It's distracting" Rosa said before going back to her paperwork. Amy went back to hers with a steely face. Jake ripped off a piece of paper from a post-it note and threw it at her head. It hit her and Amy looked up, annoyed.

" _What?_ " she mouthed.

" _Good one_ " he mouthed back to her and she shook her head in irritation. Jake, with a mischievous grin, took a sharpie to another post-it note and quickly put it in a case file.

"Hey, Santiago, I need your signature for this" he said and handed her the case file.

"Why do you need my signature?" she asked confused, but opened it anyway. He smiled as he watched her read the post-it note:

 **Love you**

She looked up at him with another big grin and a twinkle in her eye.

" _Santiago!_ I don't care if your credit score is five million, I will slap that smile off your face if you don't quit it" Rosa said, her frustration growing. Jake suspected that her computer wasn't working and it caused her to be even more hostile than usual.

"Oh, sorry!" Amy said and then glared at Jake, before scribbling on her own post-it note and sticking it in the case file. She handed it back to him with a straight face. Jake opened it and found a note that said:

 **Love you too**

 **(Asshole)**

Jake looked up and flashed her a smile. He could see she wanted to reciprocate, but instead she just scrunched her lips together so she wouldn't disturb Rosa. Jake leaned back in his chair and watched Amy work. He mused at how fortunate he was. He looked around the bullpen and saw the faces of all the people that mattered most to him. He looked back at Amy with her hand furiously writing something down on her notepad. He thought about how he was going to hold that same hand after work and how he planned to hold it for a very long time.

He took in a deep breath and thought:

" _Yeah, this can work_ "

And he got back to work.

* * *

 **AN:** And that's a wrap! Thank you so much for reading and supporting the "We'll be Detectives, Ride Around Picking Up Clues" series! I know a lot of people were upset at the end of "Johnny and Dora's Fantastic Weekend Getaway", but I hope the second installment makes up for it.

The name for the series is a lyric from Hozier's "Jackie and Wilson". You should listen to it and then make gifsets of it because I think it describes Jake and Amy really well. And I want gifsets of it, dammit!

Let me know how you liked the ending and if you would like to follow me on tumblr my handle is talking-bird-jessie. I'm currently taking suggestions for fic ideas. Just fyi, I don't do smut and I'd like to work on a happy, fluffy AU so come at me, bro.

Hugs and kisses and so many thank yous!


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